Like Looking In A Mirror
by keabird
Summary: The premise, what would happen if Connor and Hatter met?  Connor and Abby are back from the past and Alice and Hatter go on a holiday and come across an anomaly.
1. Shocking Developments

Chapter 1 – Shocking Developments

This has been the first time in months that Connor and Abby have been able sleep through the night with out fearing something might_ attack_ them. He, Abby and Danny got back from the past just over a week ago, but only now have they had a day off to relax. They spent the last week getting their lives back .To their amusement though they found out yesterday James Lester took care of Sid, Nancy, _and_ Rex while they were gone (mainly because they were left at his flat). They were shocked when Lester said.

"Connor, would you be so kind, to take back your, _**pets."**_

On their way home from Lester's he told Abby.

"I think that Lester might have _snapped_, taking care of them, _all_ _this time_."

She smiled at his little joke, it was great to see them again and just be back to their lives.

Connor was woken to the sounds of prehistoric pitter-patter, but unlike the ones in the cretaceous, these did not make him fear for his life. He knew by the sounds of the chirpy-growl that it was Sid chewing on his bed. He was hoping that he could spend the day at home just him and Abby. The last week they had hardly been alone together. (Coming back was complicated.) He wasn't holding his breath though, even after Abby _talked_ to Lester about them getting a full day off.

"Were going to go, crazy if we don't get a brake!" she shouted in the phone as they rushed back to the ARC yesterday afternoon.

"Connor… Wake up!" Abby yells from the kitchen with the sounds of frying eggs. "We've got loads of work to do." Connor grunts as he rolls out of bed. Thinking she was serious, and cursing Lester as he did.

After breakfast they sat on the couch and watched as Sid came scuttling over. Abby laid her head on Connors shoulder as Sid, Nancy and Rex played. All that could be heard in the room were chips and flapping wings as Rex swooped down at Sid and Nancy, along with Connor and Abby giggling at them.

"It's nice to be back." she mused, this being the first time to really think about the last few days. "What do you want to do today, con?" she hoped that he would say nothing, she did not want to do anything, it was hard to come back to their old lives so fast.

They have grown so close over the last few months, that Abby putting her head on his shoulder was no big deal. (After all they had been through and saw, made it that way.) They trusted each other completely and all their uncomfortable-ness was gone now.

"Hm… this is nice." He said softly putting his arm around her and pulling her closer. He felt like it has been a long time since he was able to hold her like this. When they were in the cretaceous they were always together and he could hold or kiss her when ever he wanted. He looked at their reflection in the TV and his thoughts wondered 'Wow, I haven't even thought about TV or video games in months.' He was amazed that he didn't even care anymore about them. He had grown to like the quiet, especially when he was with Abby. After a while of watching them play they both feel asleep on the couch, tired from lack of sleep from their crazy lives.

Around lunch time, they were still very comfy on the couch when the phone rang, making both of them jump.

"I got it." Said Abby a bit raspy from just waking up, smiling at their reaction to the phone, she put one hand on Connors knee to push her self up. Connor sat up and watched her go into the kitchen where the phone was, by the sink; he could no longer see her, but heard her answer the phone.

"Hello?" he was hoping it was not anyone from the ARC and that they could go back to sleep, but who else would be calling them. This last week he missed sleeping next to Abby, they use to sleep just like this on those cold nights. He almost felt like he missed being there, but his thoughts were gladly interrupted as her heard Abby continue talking on the phone.

"Um, ya that's fine." He heard her pause. "What is it? Ok ok. See you soon."

"Who was that?" he asked as she came back over. Thinking it might be Lester telling them to come in.

"Sarah, she seemed excited about some thing. She's coming over; she has _something to share _with us."

"What?" he asked as she sits back down, glad that they did not have to go on a mission or anything.

"O, I don't know, she wouldn't tell me." She said in a yon.

"Well I'm going to make a sandwich, you want one?" said Connor excited at the idea of the sandwich, since more sleep was out and stood up quickly,

"Ya, that's sounds good. I'm just going to go get cleaned up, before Sarah shows up." He watched her leave the room; he had a tendency to do that now, he never like her to be alone. Even though they have been back for a while and were in the flat, he still felt like _something_ was watching them and was going to try to eat them.

They had just finished the sandwiches and were laughing at Nancy as she jumped and squeaked for Rex to play with her (he was sitting on one of the rafters), When Sarah showed up, along with her very large messenger bag. When Connor saw that, he knew it was not a just a friendly visit, it was work. Abby let her in and had tea ready at the table.

"So what's this all about?" Abby asked Sarah as they all sat down, Abby cupping her hands around the warm tea.

"Ok, do you remember the journal of Professor John Morton?" She said emphasizing the last 3 words with one finger tapping on the table. They both thought for a moment. Abby could tell she was holding back some of her excitement.

"ehh, no." Connor said as Sarah was pulling out a book from her bag and putting it on the table.

"From the shack, when we were hiding out from Johnson."

"What about it?" Abby asks, remembering that day.

"I was reading it and I think that he might have been on to something with how or why the anomaly's open when and where the do." She said excited leafing through it. "Ok here it says. 'Its back' and ah then he talks about how "strange that it came when the stars of Cygnus was close to.' well he doesn't name it, But this means maybe the stars are the key?"

"O my god, this is huge, that's why it was in code!" says Connor just as excited and rushed as Sarah. throwing his hands out. They haven't had a break through like this since the day they met Sarah. Now, he did not care that she was cutting into their day off.

"So, we need an astronomer or something." Said Abby.

"Paul… Marshall…" he was thinking back when he was in school. "He, uh guest lectured once at school." Answering their confused faces.

"What about him?" asked Abby at this seemingly random information.

"Well he worked with the European Space Agency on the… 'X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission', eh I think he is in London, but I'm not sure."

"Right, well I will go and see if I can find him, and see if we can talk with him tomorrow." Sarah left, leaving Connor and Abby reeling from this new development and somewhat shocked at how quickly she left. Abby guessed she had been waiting to just get started on this new find since she came across it. They talked late into the night about it. Connor kept going on about Cutters model and how it looked like a star map and how he should have noticed it before now. The next morning Abby went to meet Paul after Sarah gave her an early call, before Connor woke up. After the night of thinking about it, it was like Christmas morning and she could not wait for him. So she left just after Sarah told her where Paul was, and left Connor a note. 'Could not wait, went to talk to Paul. See you back at the ARC. Love Abby. P. S. I found your hat. '


	2. First Day

Chapter 2 – First Day

Hatter stares out the window lost in thought, Alice was lying on his shoulder sleeping, when the pilot came over the loud speaker.

"We will be landing on time in just 10 minutes. American Airlines wishes you a pleasant stay in England."

It's been a year since he came to Alice's world and has been thinking for most of that time, of how to purpose. This will be the first time he and Alice have traveled together (besides in wonderland but that really doesn't count).

He learned a lot about England, from his research of tea and thought it would be a romantic place to go for her birthday, since she was always saying that she wanted to travel some day. He saved all the money that he made from his tea shop for the last few months. Alice was helping out at night these days, which has been the only that time he as seen her, lately. seeing as she's taken on more classes and started this support group for the oysters family's that lost someone and (did not know what happened them), all those that were freed. He helped out when he could, but felt a little weird about it, being someone that _used_ them. He has stopped talking about his past in wonderland too because of it, he use to entertain Alice with stories of his younger days, on quiet nights before they officially moved in together. She was always saying that he should be a writer.

He was thrilled that he and Alice would have a whole week alone together, away for all of that. He turned to Alice and whispered.

"Alice… Alice wake up, were almost there."

They got to The Bear Hotel (near the Forest of Dean) late that night and Alice went to sleep once she hit the bed, she really needed this break. Hatter watched her sleep for a while, thinking about how he didn't ever to be apart from her and about when Alice went through the looking glass, he had only lasted a few hours before he went through after her, with the other oysters.

On their first day in England Hatter planed a picnic. So the next morning He got up early to get some food for lunch, before Alice woke up. He had not been the nicest guy lately, so he really wanted this to be the perfect day. He was going to try to be good, so she could really enjoy her birthday trip. As he was coming back from the store, he was thanking the heavens that it was going to be a nice day and hoped that it would last for when they went to London later in the week. When he got back Alice was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.

"Hatter?" she asked stepping out the bathroom door way.

"Hey, I just got us some food for later." He said as he closed the door behind him.

"Wow… well I would have gone with you." She said stepping back into the bathroom. She has missed him these last few weeks, with her working all the time, she knew it was hard on him not being around as much as she use to, but she was going to make it up to him.

"O, it was a long flight, and it's your birthday, so…" hatter smiled putting the bags on the small table in the corner; he liked the way she looked in the morning just in a t-shirt and underwear.

"Hey, it's a nice day. Let's go for a walk, yeah?" he said turning around quickly, clapping his hands together.

"Sounds great, let me get dressed."

Hatter and Alice were walking down the street of the town holding hands, looking in some of the shops. All the stone buildings reminder Hatter of wonderland.

"So are you enjoying the trip?" Hatter asked her trying to not think about wonderland, it was odd how much he was thinking about it lately. On the plane when she was sleeping it was all he could think about. He didn't no why, its not like he had a very good life back there or anything, but sometimes he missed the rush, normally when he got that feeling, he would tell Alice he was going to the bar, but he really was street fighting for money, which is behind a bar so not really a lie. He felt that New York also had no style; it was so boring compared to wonderland. He didn't like thinking about it, it made him feel like he was betraying Alice.

"Well _so far_, this has been it. But yes it's very relaxing here."

"Good." He thought of the small box hidden back at the hotel. "I got something else to give you, but that's for later."

"Really, what?"

"I can't tell you, you are just gunna have to wait." He teased; she smiled, and gave his arm a little squeeze, as she leaned up to gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

He felt different here. This vacation seemed to be doing him some good just as much as her. Ahead of them was a café, she wanted to stop and get a little something, hatter smiled at her like she was the cutest thing he had ever seen, when she when she did a little skip just before they sat down at one of the outside tables. They ordered 2 coffees and as they waited for their drinks hatter thoughts was back on wonderland, Alice was texting her mom about the trip.

"Alice?"

"Hm?" she said still typing.

"Do you ever miss or uh think about wonderland?" he didn't know why he was asking, he just had to talk about.

"I don't know, I sometimes think of Charlie though. Why do _you_ miss it?" she said hitting send on the phone and sitting back.

"O know, I was just thinking..." He said a bit rushed. "_This_ world is very different from it." He said this more quietly cause the waitress came with their drinks, trying to sound like it was just a mild observation and not, well home sick. Alice knew it was hard for him sometimes, especially in the beginning, When he sold his rings and a few other things for some new clothes and food while he looked for Alice in the city and having to make a new identity here and all, He never did told her how he got all those papers, making him a citizen, but she had her suspicions. They said nothing more about wonderland after he changed the subject to what they were going to do, later on in the week.


	3. Not A Mirror

Chapter 3 – Not a Mirror

Hatter was packing up the left over food back into the basket when Alice said.

"Hatter… what's that?" he looks up to see where she was pointing. "Do you think it could be?" She trails off.

"Could be wha, oh…" he says seeing the floating broken mirror thing, just over the hill where Alice was. He just stares at it like he use to, when Charlie was going on about dark arts. 'What if it is?' he thinks to himself. Alice walks closer to it and her hair blows back.

"Alice, STOP!" Hatter yells has a stick comes fling out at her. She kneels down to pick it up.

"Alice!" Hatter said Frustrated. He wished once she would listen to him. 'What was she thinking?' he ran over to see the stick, as she looks up to see what tree it came from.

"This isn't from here." Saying it more to him self. She turns to look at him. He looks closely at the broken mirror thing and tosses the stick at it.

"What are you doing?" Alice asks confused while listening for the stick to drop but it never does. Hatters face shifted it was no longer filled with concern but excited seriousness.

"Alice, what if this IS the mirror of wonderland."

"But, it can't be, jack would never open it. Plus it don't look right."

"Well what else could it be? Maybe, they just changed it, ya." Alice looks at him as he stares wide eyed at the sphere. She has not seen him like this in so long.

"Alice come on don't you want to go and see what's changed, _peace_ in wonderland?" he said as he put his hands together almost like praying for her to say yes and after a moment.

"Ok common." Sounding a bit more warily than she wanted.

Hatter walked through first then Alice after a pause and a deep breath.

"Connor, I found a note." It was Sarah rushing over to where he was standing in the café line. "Here, it's from Abby." His heart leaped. She has been missing for weeks now.

"Meet me at the bend in the road at 1:30 and bring coffee, it will open in the café. Abby" he read out aloud.

"What does that mean?"

"It means she's coming back, Sarah!"

"How did she write this note though, how come she did not come back then?" Connor heard her but was not concerned, his Abby was coming back.

When he went through the anomaly he was taken aback at the strange place before him. It was so colorful; it was like 'the wizard of oz'. He took it all in as Sarah came through with the coffees.

"Where is she?"

He remembered what the note said 'at the bend in the road'. With out answering her he walked down the hill. There seemed to be nothing around, then he heard it, people talking but not just people, it was Abby. He ran to the sounds, but all he saw was more fields, then he could just see a fence through the tall candy like grass that seemed to made from plastic tubing. He could hear Abby but he did not understand what she was saying. He got over the fence as fast as he could and then he saw her.

"ABBY!" she was wearing the strangest clothes he has ever seen, they also seemed to made of plastic. It seemed to fit in this world the girl next to her was dressed the same.

Abby did not look up when he called her, she just kept talking to the girl. They were walking on this path or was it a road. It turned right at the fence, where he could now see an impossible colorful town.

"Abby!" his eyes were glued to her face; she just looked at him blankly.

"Abby?" he was unsure of what was happening. "I thought that you were coming back." His voice cracked on the last word as he looked away. He felt if he looked at her she would see his heart breaking.

"No, I just wanted to say good bye. I like it here; I just wanted _you_ to know that I was ok and happy." He looked back up at her as she stopped talking; he was almost holding his breath as she talked.

She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Bye." Then she and the girl walked off to the town.

"Abby!" Sarah yelled "don't worry Connor, I will talk to her." With that she ran off.

He just stood there on the spot staring as his world faded around him.

Connor woke up unnerved from the dream he had. The more he thought about it the more it faded. He just laid there trying to remember it, but it was no good. All he was left with was a vague feeling of loss and maybe Abby? He got up and found the note she left, along with the hat that was next to it.

Just as Paul and Abby got to the ARC, the alarm went off. Connor was at the detector getting its coordinates. Abby walked over to him, Paul followed.

"Abby, it's in the Forest of Dean." He saw Abby's face change and answered before she could ask. "No not the same one." He looks at Paul.

"Oh Paul. Sarah!" he calls to Sarah who is taking notes from Morton's journal. "Get Paul up to date."

"Connor, come on." Danny says from the door with and Becker. Connor rushes off to ketch-up.

Alice came through and just saw Hatter staring.

"Hatter?" she says as she looks around walking over to him "this is not wonderland. What is this place?" hatter could not help but think of the first time he met her, she said that. He said nothing as he looked down the mountain they were on. The wind was blowing up from the valley, Hatter had to hold on to his hat, Alice held on to his arm to keep herself upright just as a big gust of wind flow though the trees.

"Come on, lets have a look around." He says walking forward, but Alice stays put. He turns back to see what's wrong. She had the same face when he had taken her the forest of Wabe.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you." He said putting out his hand and looking calmly in her eyes. "Just a look around, yeah." He said with a smile, he knew that would work. She slowly walked over to him and took his hand and they walked slowly down the valley.

"So where is this anomaly, Connor?" Becker asks getting out of the truck.

"Eh, this is going to be a bit of a walk guys." Connor answers, making Abby walk over to look at Connors detector.

"Cant we just drive?" asks Danny still sitting in the truck

"No, the ground is to wet and soft." Abby says still looking at the detector.

"We'll never make it, its better on foot." Connor adds.

"Well, let's get going then." Becker grunts getting the 'locking mechanism' from the bed of the truck.

"Connor, my ears just popped." Abby whispered discretely. Connor looked at her then away, you could hardly see he did anything then kind of cleared his throat, with that she understood.

"Right." And after a second thinking, "_should_ we tell them?"

"Not yet."

"Come on, you two." Called Danny.


	4. The Meeting

Chapter 4 – The Meeting

They had been walking for some time now.

"How much further?" asks Becker in that army voice of his.

"We're almost there." Abby answers as she looks at the detector in her hand.

"Becker, give me the 'locking mechanism'. We want to be ready, we don't know what has come through." Danny says a bit tired, he has not been the same since he found Connor and Abby back in the cretaceous, he was much older now, it was years before he found a anomaly that just so happened to go right to one of Connor and Abby's hide outs. He has been going slow, and Connor knew why, he had told him that was feeling to worn out, but he never told him or Abby how long he was lost, (it was hard to tell just by looking at him), he always seemed to change the topic when it came up.

Up ahead Connor and Abby stopped.

"People, looks like a picnic." Abby says abruptly to Connor who really was not paying attention, he felt like he was missing something, he looks up at her with concern coming out of his daze.

"Danny, looks like we might have a problem!" He says turning back, remembering what they were doing.

"What is it?" Becker asks as he and Danny rush over.

"Someone was here." Connor says gesturing to the remains of a picnic.

Danny kneels down to have a better look.

"No sign of a struggle or animals tracks." Danny had become really good at reading tracks and animal signs.

"Right, Becker go look for them, Connor where's the anomaly?"

"Just over that hill."

"That's where their foot prints head." Says Becker from up ahead. "Looks like they went through."

"Well we can't close it if they went through." Connor Says looking to Danny.

Danny turned from everyone rubbing the back his neck, thinking for a moment.

"Ok, Becker and I will." But before he could finish his sentence, a man and women laughing and holding a bunch of flowers come through.

"I told you… whoa." The man said when he saw all these people and one with a gun pointing at them.

Hatter had been through this before he knew what to do.

"Eh, Flower?" Alice hits him at his joke. "shh!" this was no time for Hatter to be well Hatter.

"Are you ok? Are there any others with you? Abby asks as she moves them away from the anomaly, ignoring what the man said.

"no." said Alice rather stiffly not sure what was happening, looking back at Hatter to gage if they were in danger. She could not read his face. He had gone into con mode she could tell. Though she disapproved of it in general it made her feel safer.

"Connor, lock it." Says Danny turning to Alice and Hatter. "Now, who are you?"

"I'm, uh David and she's Alice." He said cocking his head to Alice with a smile. Alice said nothing she was eyeing the man with the gun, even though it was no longer pointed at her and Hatter. Hatter was more concerned with more military guys coming.

"What did you see in there, what kind of animals?" asks Connor coming back over after locking the anomaly.

"Hang on what's going on here?" Hatter said stepping forward. Connor and Abby both looked at each other at his question and his confidence.

"You don't seem shocked about any of this." Connor thought back of all the people that didn't seem shocked. "Who do you work for?"

"What! Me and Hatter are just on a holiday and we were having a picnic."

"Hatter and Alice? What are you two from wonderland or something?" Connor jokes and laughs quietly to him self.

"Connor be serious" Abby says rolling her eyes. "Wait, I thought your name was David? Why did you call him Hatter?"

"Because he wears hats." She says a bit flustered with all this wonderland talk.

"Just a nickname." Hatter calmly injects putting his arm around Alice's waist to calm her down.

"indeed." Says Becker dryly, for he was in fact wearing a brown hat.

"Abby keep an eye on them, Connor can I have a word?" says Danny eyeing Becker to do the same as Abby. He and Connor walked off from the others.

"Something not right." Danny whispers looking off, like he was not talking.

"Ya, they seem too nonchalant about all of this. They must know something."

"The girl sounds American, maybe the US knows about the anomalies. I think we should take them to the ARC." They just looked at each other both thinking of the idea. Connor did a small nod and Danny did too with a wink in response. Connor thought of how Danny was acting lately and had to ask.

"Danny, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine Con, we can talk later we have to get back, and I have to talk to Lester."

"Lester?"

"Con, work."

"O right." Remembering why they were there.


	5. Tense Ride

Chapter 5 – Tense Ride

Connor and Danny slowly turn and walk back; Connor goes to Abby before Danny gets to Hatter and Alice.

"Abby, we want to take them to the ARC." He wipers in her ear, so know one could hear. "We could use your Abby charm."

"What? Why?"

"We think they might be working for someone and well you know people just trust you." She looked at him, figuring out if it was a complement before she said.

"What is it about this job, that make people want to take over?" Connor looked at her in the eyes and gave a half hearted smile, while putting his arm around her just as Danny came over to the strangers.

"Ok Alice, David-Hatter or what ever. We would like to take you to our office for a proper interview and debrief you on this."

"Why should we do that?" Hatter says put off at the very idea of going with them. "We are not going anywhere with you." Hatter says while stepping I front of Alice.

"What do you have to hide?" says Abby calmly walking closer leaving Connors arm behind. "We just want to know what you saw in there."

"It's nothing to do with us hiding anything, its you and your."

"We didn't see anything, just plants and the crazy wind." Says Alice cutting Hatter off and holding up the flowers. Both Connor and Abby looked at the flowers then quickly to each other.

"Those flowers…" Connor says to himself. Abby steps back to Connor.

"They look like the ones from the valley." She says in a whisper.

"What's wrong?" Danny asks not knowing what has happened to them.

"Where did you get those flowers?" Connor asks walking up to them

"Um ah, down the hill on the other side." Alice answers shaking her head thinking.

"Look, we need you to come with us to the ARC and get this straitened out, this is a national security issue." Abby said sounding more like Jenny. Connor was just staring at the anomaly, as the blood drained from his face. His thoughts were jumping all over the place. 'She was right about the ear pops (as she called them)… omg, that's what happened to Abby's garden and that means...'

"O uh, ok." Alice turns to Hatter seeing his face clearly not likening the idea. She leaned in closer to him. "Come on Hatter?"

"No, we aren't going any were with them."

"Well, I went with _you_." She said more quietly. "If we can take on the Queen of Hearts, we can deal with them." Hatter smirked at the last bit.

"Ok." Hatter finally said.

Connor was still thinking hard about the flowers and what that meant but he could have sworn the girl just said something about the queen of hearts, breaking his stare and bringing him back.

"Great, let's get going." Say's Danny as Becker went to talk to the other military men.

ooOOooOOoo

Connor and Abby were driving behind Danny and Becker, in the truck.

"Abby?" Connor said shifting his eyes from the road to her and back again after driving for a few minutes. "Those flowers."

"I know, Con."

"Well, you know what that means, right? We are on the other side." He was surprised how calmly he said this, cause he did not feel calm, his heart was pounding against his chest. "What are we going to do?"

"Nothing…" She said looking out the window, thinking of cutter. He would have told them to leave it, not to change the past.

"What do you mean nothing? We shouldn't be going to the ARC, to talk to these people, we should be going to save us. How can be so calm?" Saying this fast as his fake calmness was gone now.

"Con, you know we can't do that." She said with sadness in her voice. She knew why he was so animated; life was hard at that time, the time the flowers disappeared. She did not want to put them through that if it could be stopped but who knows what would happen if they stopped it. "You know what could happen if we changed the past."

"But it's just our past."

"How do you know?" She said a little angry. she wasn't really sure why she was getting angry all he wanted to do was protect her. "What if we don't do something and everything's changed. You don't know what was or is important. Think of cutter and Claudia Brown." Connor said nothing for a long time at this statement.

"Well, you were right." He finally said

"About what?" she asked unsure what he was talking about.

"About those ear pops, you were right." Abby thought that sometimes anomaly's try to open but don't and could cause your ears to pop like you were in a plane.

"I know, con." She said to equal to his dry tone, but added "thanks." With a smile, mainly to lighten Connor up. Since she kinda told him off, but it didn't work. She thought a second.

"Maybe I should call _you_ Hatter or Glover, ya Glover!" she said laughing and tilting his gray fedora to the side.

"Ha ha, very funny." He was trying not to smile as he fixed it.

ooOOooOOoo

Hatter and Alice sat in the back of the SUV in silence along with Danny and Becker in the front. Hatter was glad that they at least had a set of seats between them; maybe they could talk and not be heard.

"I still don't like this. We don't know these people." He paused a second as he looked at Alice's hands laying in her lap, focusing on her still barren ring finger and with out thinking he said.

"This was suppose to be, this was going to be. Eh, it's ruined..." he trailed off reutilizing he was saying this out loud, Alice was going to ask what was ruined, but Danny started to talk to Becker.

"Becker you better call Lester and tell him we are bringing them in. hey you two, what are your full names?" he called to the back of the car. Hatter was not going to say anything, he was not going to help them with anything, this reminded him to much of how things started in Wonderland.

"Alice Hamilton and David Smith." She said with no hesitation, she felt differently of how to deal with the situation. She just wanted to get this over with and away from these people and back to her vacation. Hatter through his hands up in frustration shaking his head, not looking at her.

"We are bringing in some people…" Becker said as Alice turned to Hatter. "Its not ruined, we still have the rest of the week." Thinking he meant the trip, this did not seem to falter his attitude. He was thinking about the portal and what could these people doing with it.

"Yes sir, I know sir. About 20 mins." Becker said hanging up the phone. The rest of the ride was filled in silence.

**Hope you like this chapter.**

**Please review.**


	6. poll

Sorry this is not the next chapter

I want to ask you a question.

I was considering a flash back chapter for Connor and Abby, in the cretaceous and maybe one of Hatter's days when he was young about his family.

It's just a idea at the moment but if you want me to write it I will.

Please let me know. (And I love a good and long review so please review).

I am hoping to get the next chapter up soon, and a big surprise is coming for you primeval lovers, all I am going to say is I am bringing some one back.


	7. Waiting

**(Betty is that blond women that missed her kids in the casino)**

Chapter 6- Waiting

Connor and Abby got back to the new ARC a few minuets after Danny and Becker. They made a wrong turn after they lost Danny before they remembered the Sat-Nav. This last week they were always brought to the new ARC and neither of them paid much attention to how to get there. They had actually taken over Johnson's old place, It was more remote location (than the old ARC) though it did not seem like it would stay like that, there were plans for a new sister campus (of the university) to be built near by.

The first thing that Connor did as he and Abby came downstairs into the research area was look for Danny, though Abby was more concerned with the two they brought in. she really wanted to ask them about what they did in the anomaly. She had to make sense of it. He saw Sarah with Paul in her office. They both forgot about Paul with today's events, he touched Abby's arm to tell her he was going over to Sarah as he walked away, she followed after a beet as she looked in the rooms looking for David and Alice, but did not see them anywhere.

"Hey, how are you two doing?" Connor asked Sarah.

"We are just putting together all the times of when anomaly's have opened and closed."

"Great, where's Danny?" Getting to the reason he came over.

"He's talking to Lester."

"Well, where are Hatter and Alice?"

"Why are you calling him Hatter?" asks Abby.

"Well, she called him that, and it's so much easier to remember."

"O what ever."

"They're up stairs, they said they were waiting for you," Sarah said looking at the clock. "Where were you two, they have been here for like 15 min?"

"Con, made a wrong turn."

"Hey, you were there to. You were has lost as me."

"Could you two please have your little spat somewhere else, we're working here." Said Paul not looking up from the folder he had just grabbed. Sarah gave a look like he had been like this all day as they stepped out of her office.

"So you got me another crazy obsessive scientist, thanks."

"Ya, well he did seem very keen this morning, though reserved."

ooOOooOOoo

Hatter and Alice were ushered into a very well lite room. It was a bit sterol, and seemed to be a spare room cause there was nothing in it but the table and a few chairs and the counters were bare.

"Well this is nice." Said Hatter ripe with sarcasm as he looked around.

"Could you please sit down?" She asked has he looked in one of the drawers.

"What? I can't look around?" he said as he looked in a cupboard as a women came in, she just looked at Hatter a moment.

"Can I get a tea or something while you wait for the whole team to get here?" she asked very sweetly.

"Yes that would be nice, thank you." Answers Alice. The women then looks to Hatter, he gave a nod to answer her question.

"Ok two teas." She smiled at them and walked out the room.

"Well she was very nice."

"Ya, she was…" he said as he sat in the chair next to Alice.

"Find anything?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"Just dust, love." He said tilting his head to her.

"You haven't called me that in a long time." she said with a smile.

"What, o really?"

"Really." Her phone starts to ring making her turn away from him. "Its, Betty." She says looking at the ID.

"Alice, come on I thought you told her not to call and why is she even calling, you left her in charge of the meetings this week? Don't answer it."

"I wasn't going to."

"_Right_, look I know I told you to start this support group, but it's taken over your life. You know you don't have to do it all."

"I know how it's been and that's why I am planning on having Betty do the meeting on Tuesdays, and I will only have Thursdays."

"Really?" he did not see this coming; he thought that she would just get mad.

"_Really_." She smiled at his reaction to the news. She and Betty had been talking about it for the last few weeks and Betty was going to help with the search for the family's that lost some one. The door opened and the women came in with the teas.

"Here you are." She said with the same sweet smile. "They shouldn't be to long." She added as she left the room.

He took the cup and had a sip and thought a moment.

"This reminds me of wonderland." He stated

"What the tea?"

"No love, _these_ people, _that _portal."

"What do you mean?"

"It reminds me of how things started to change back in wonderland. This place has a queen right?"

"Ya, well she is nothing like the Queen of Hearts and she really is just for show, just kind of a tradition. I don't think that we need to worry about these people."

"How can you say that? They had a gun to us and that portal thing is not normal and why is this all top secret."

"These people don't seem so sinister, they did at first, but we just shocked them I think."

"Well, I don't trust that one guy."

"Which?"

"The one that we are waiting on, he had the gray hat on." He said this thinking 'though I do like his hat. "Also that guy with the gun, he reminds me of Jack. They have the same expressions."

"O the hat guy, he kinda reminds me of you a bit."

"What? Beside the hat I don't see how."

ooOOooOOoo

Connor was headed for Lester's office; Abby went with Sarah to the room where Alice and David were. He wanted to know why Danny had been acting so odd these last few days. When he turned the corner and saw Lester's office at the end of the hall, he was looking as closely as he could, to see if he could catch any words, but couldn't make any sense of it. Lester gave him a quick look as he went to stand next to the door. The door to his office was left open a crack and Connor starched his ear to hear.

"Yes, well at lest we got you back, But why now, at such a busy time?" Asked Lester.

"Its never going to be a good time, you know that. I just cant any more."

"Well at least I had some notice this time, unlike others. Yes well, we have work to do and I think that there is one person you don't have to tell the news to. It seems that Connor's been listening out side the door."

Connor stiffened up at being caught ease dropping.

"Connor." Lester dryly beckoned loudly. Making Connor slowly slide through the cracked door. "Glad to see you made it. Could we now get back to work?" says Lester grabbing a few folders and leading the way out of the room.

"Danny what's going on, mate? You're not quitting?" he asked as the walked down the hall.

"Con, I'm too old for this and to slow. I need a slower life."

"What are you gunna do?"

"I am going to go back to my old job, and get a desk and stay there."

"But you hate that stuff."

"No, well yes, but it's a 9 to 5 and I can just go home and relax." Connor wondered why time travel seemed to change people, Helen kinda went crazy, Danny became more still and beaten, him more dominant, and Abby more open at least with him.

"Don't tell the rest of the team, I will do it." Connor just nodded at this.

When they got to the room with David and Alice, the first thing Connor saw Abby laughing with Alice and Hatter looking irritated.

"Well I am glad to see someone having a good time." And at that moment came the screeching alarm Buzz Buzz Buzz. "Well, what astonishing poor timing." Lester continued. "Connor you and Becker go and check it out. The rest of you stay."

"Ya-what?" Connor utter at being told to leave.

"We do not have time for your witty come backs Connor, get going." Connor and Becker left the room, Connor cursing Lester as he went. He wanted to talk to them as much as any, if not more.

ooOOooOOoo

The anomaly was at the university and of all places seemed to be in Cutters old building were his office use to be.

"I haven't been back here in years." Connor said on the way there thinking back of his days with his friends, before this job.

"So Danny was telling me about earlier." Connor said nothing to this change of topic. "He said something happened to you and Abby." He said this as a statement and not a question. Leaving Connor confused if he was to respond or wait for what he was going to say next, but Becker did not continue. Connor debated if he should tell him what is on the other side of that anomaly (in the Forest of Dean), then thought of Abby, not the Abby at the ARC but the one that was close to death on the other side alone and lost. That sinking feeling he felt then was back now. But as they pulled into the campus his heart started to pound, not about of Abby being hurt, but what he was seeing, he just could not believe what he was looking at, as Abby was whipped from his mind for the first time all day. It was not an animal but someone he saw die long ago.

**So who is this unknown person, is it his old friend Tom, is it Johnson, Cutter, one of those military guys. Who knows?**

**!Please Review!**


	8. Unbelievable

Chapter 7 Unbelievable

As the door closed behind Connor and Becker, all that were left were Abby, Lester, Danny and Hatter and Alice. Hatter thought this seemed like a lot of people for just a chat. Lester had told Sarah to go back down stairs to work.

"So David, Alice. I have two folders in my hands." Now Hatter had seen this the instance he walked in.

"I can see that." He said irritated "Now, who are you?"

"I happen to be the person that is in charge of when you leave, so it might be better to not be so, how could I put it, impolite." Hatter then looked to Alice with a face like I told you so and turned back to Lester with his head tilted slightly to one side.

"Now the thing is, this folder is the back round of Alice Hamilton," he said holding up one of the folders.

"You seem to have a quite remarkable life, did good in school, went to New School for a year, then went on to teach Karate, which seems like a good idea from what I see you did very well in tournament's. Now this folder is much more interesting, David Smith." Hatter became a little concerned; he wondered what was in that folder. Lester just looked at him and took a breath before he opened the folder. Hatter saw that is was almost empty except for one or two pages, at first he thought this was good, then he looked at Alice's, hers was full of many papers.

"There seems to be no record of a David Smith from New York, wait no, there seems to be no record until about 11 months ago when you got a license for a business." He looked more closely at a page. "Seems to be doing well too. Now how does a man of about, I don't know 30, just appear and decide to run a, ah tea shop?" He says looking at the paper again. Before putting it back in the folder and tossing both folders in front of Hatter and Alice and crossing his arms. Hatter had looked at him stone face through his little speech. Alice looked at the folders then to Hatter, he was now looking at the folders, he seemed to be going over something in his mind. He turned to Alice and looked at her much the same way. He was not sure what exactly he was really being accused of, but thought of only one way to explain how he could just come into being.

"They're not going to believe it." Alice whispered reading he's mind.

"Try us." Lester injected "there isn't much we haven't seen." He said dully. Hatter turned back to Lester.

"Ok, I am not from here."

"Where are you from then?" asked Abby. She was eager to hear his answer but she did not expect to hear what he said next.

"You may have heard of it, most oysters have." He watched everyone shift at the word oyster and could feel Alice cringe, but continued. "I'm fromWonderland." He knew she really did not like him to use that word, as it means a thing to use and not an equal person. There was a silence that followed his statement.

"So you are Alice and _your _nick name is Hatter? Connor is going to love this." Abby said to Danny with a half smile.

"Well actually my name _is_ Hatter or was…" he said this thinking, he really wasn't Hatter anymore, or well ever was.

"Well that's… Wonderlands real?" Danny said unsure if he was Sirius, he looked very Sirius.

"Yes."

"So, that me get this strait, there are now other worlds, what's next talking animals."

"I am going to miss this." Danny said though no one seemed to hear him.

"I'm sorry, but I thought we brought them here to talk about what they saw in the anomaly and not about if he's from wonderland, yes, it's all very interesting but I have other questions to ask them."

"Me and Connor actually brought them here because this guy was acting weird and her being American was concerning. Does this have to do with how you and Connor acted back there?"

"Maybe."

"You going to tell us what it's about?"

"We all have mystery's, don't we Danny?"

"Abby can you wait outside; we have other things to talk to them about. You can talk to them after we're done." She didn't move. Danny continued for Lester. "Just paperwork you know."

"Fine." She walked out the room with out looking at anyone. She wished Connor was there for some back up. She did not like how Lester was always breaking them up to do different tasks. She went back to the research area; because she really did not care for the brightness of the upstairs offices. She sat in connor's normal seat. Just then her phone rang, it was Connor. '_Great I really need to talk to him_.' she now knew why Cutter never could stand Lester.

"Abby! Abby, you are never going to believe this!" he sounded so weird she could not tell if it was joy, excitement, or even fear.

"Well, you are never going to believe what's happening here, Lester just-." But Connor cut her off.

"Abby I don't know how to say this but… cut" she could not hear what he said. She tried to call him back, but it went strait to voice mail.

ooOOooOOoo

"STOP!" Connor yelled startling Becker as he hit the brakes.

"WHAT, What is it?" he barked back at this seemingly uncalled for outburst. Connor only heard the first '_what_', cause he was already out of the car. 'His mind must be playing tricks on him,_ 'it couldn't be him, he must just be someone that looks like him_'. But he had to be sure. Connor was walking up behind the man; he was just a few yard from him. he considered the idea of calling out his name, but thought better of it, cause how he was feeling it might just come out has a screech. '_Maybe it was another one of Helens tricks, but she's dead; no she did a lot of time hoping it could be_...'

"Connor!" Becker called standing just outside of the car. "We have work to do; we don't have time for this." But when backer said Connor's name the man turned around.

"Connor? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Abby." Connor looked at him a second as his heart was just about to burst, '_how can this be, how could Cutter be alive_', but at that moment he did not care and without thinking he found himself hugging him.

"O my god, Cutter!" his voice cracked.

"Eh, I know I said I could kiss you yesterday, but I was not making a pass."

"Yesterday?" Connor was so confused. He did not seem to know he was in the future. Becker was coming over now, he had a gun over his shoulder and a hand held.

"Connor is there something you need to tell me?" he said looking at him and the man he was hugging. Connor looked at Becker like he was an idiot as he broke the long hug.

"This is Cutter." Connor said this like it was the most obvious thing. Cutter took a look at the man with the gun and some sort of computer thing in his hand; he could not be a computer guy he thought.

"Who are you?"

"I'm…" Becker started to answer.

"Eh, he's no one." Connor quickly interjected if he did not know him now he probably shouldn't know at all.

"Cutter how can you be here? This is not possible." Connors mind was busting, so much was happening today.

"What? I came to see if anything was left in my office from the move to the ARC."

"How do you know the ARC moved?"

"Connor, you not ma… wow." Cutter said putting his hands on Connors shoulders then feeling his arms, they were not the skinny arms he knew. "What have you been doing?" He took a good look at him now. "Your hair is longer…"

"The anomaly, you came through it? Becker where is it?"

"Wait, what anomaly, and why would he know where it is?"

"It's closed."

"When did it close?" Connor asked Becker.

"Just a minute ago, before we got here and before you jumped out the car, it was in the archaeology building."

"I didn't see anything in there." said Cutter.

"You must have. You are not suppose to be here" he still could not understand how he was here.

"Why?"

"Because you're dead." Connor said this before he could stop himself.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked cutter as he got his phone out.

"I'm calling… its not working." Connor thought he saw Jenny's name on his phone.

"Of course its not, you don't have an account." Connor could not believe how thick he was being.

"Becker show me where the anomaly was, Cutter follow us." Connor said grabbing Cutters arm to encourage him to come. He did not look like he normally did in the past; he was lost looking and was not hiding it, very uncutter. He came with no protest; Connor thought it was his need to know the truth.

"We're going to my office, it was in my office?" Cutter said as they turned to his hall. Connor was just thinking about the last time he was here. It was right after Tom died. That was when they move into the ARC.

Becker opened the door.

"It was in here." He looked at the detector then pointed to the door way to a closet.

"How long was it opened?"

"From 1:38 to 2:08."

"What? I got here after 3:00? That makes no sense. What time is it?" Cutter asked but was ignored again.

"Looks like you were in here," said Connor said looking at the mess. "about when was the last time you went through the doorway?" he seemed to be put off a bit at Connor being so assertive.

"Like 10 minutes ago. I was bringing out a box to look at properly at my desk and it was so bright in here I had to go for a walk, the light in here was getting to me, I, I had to see what else has changed." Connor was not sure what he was talking about. then looked at his watch. It was 2:23. Man this was a long day already.

"So, you saw no anomaly?" asked Becker

"No strange light?" added Connor

"I know what an anomaly looks like, I would have seen it." Then he thought of when he was lifting the box, it was heavier than he thought and had strained to lift it and closed his eyes has he backed out, then the light flashed and went out. But maybe that's not what happened.

"If I did come through an anomaly, then what year is it?"

"It's important that you don't know that, I think." Connor said.

"You think?"

"It's unclear. Can you excuse me a second." He said getting his phone and stepped out side the room. He still could not believe that Cutter was here; he had to tell some one he hit the number one on his speed dial.

"Abby! Abby, you are never going to believe this!" he felt so weird, well he did not know how he was feeling actually.

"Well, you are never going to believe what's happening here, Lester just-." But Connor cut her off not really listening.

"Abby I don't know how to say this but… cut. What you doing?" he said as Becker grabbed his phone.

"Connor if the anomaly is gone what are we going to do with him?"

**Anyone think it was Cutter?**

**A lot happened in this chapter and it was a bit overwhelming to write, but I got it done.**

**!Please Review!**


	9. mood swing

**Sorry for the delay, I got a little writers block and ended up writing a story about Hatters past, I have it up if you want to read it. **

Chapter 8 Mood Swing

Connor realized the direness of cutter really being here as he and Becker spoke in the hall way.

"Maybe it will reopen?" he thought weakly. He tried to think of what could happen if Cutter got stuck here, _'what if this altered the past'_. Then he thought of what Cutter said back in the courtyard. "If yesterday was the day after the worms then…" he thought out loud.

"What are you talking about?" asked Becker.

"What he said, the time. But if this already happened for the other Cutter, maybe it will reopen."

"Ya, but maybe not." Said cutter from the door way. Neither Connor or Becker saw him standing there.

"What do you mean?" asked Connor.

"This could be a self creating reality."

"A what?" asked Becker.

"Some theorize that reality's can branch off from others, all new, all their own." He said.

"So are you saying that you could go back and at the same time not go back?"

"Yes, but it's like Schrödinger's cat, there is no way to know."

"Then we have to try to get you back, maybe Paul could help us."

"Who's Paul?"

"Someone we got to study the connection between celestial movements and the anomaly's." said Connor abandoning all attempts at trying to hide anything about the future from him. "Come on lets get to the arc and get you back to your right time." He said already going down the hall, "cutter you know it's mad that you are here, you are going to blow peoples minds when you show up at the arc."

ooOOoo

"Could I ask what was the last mission we had before you came here?" Connor asked turning from the front seat of the car to look at cutter, properly.

"Worms, I'm still tired from it."

"When was that?" Connor asked trying to confirm the time line.

"yesterday." Connor struggled to remember what was happening back then.

ooOOooOOoo

Abby sat her self down in Connors normal seat at the detector when she could not get him on the phone, thinking about the anomaly in the forest of dean. _'If only we knew that it was there, we could have been back months earlier_ _and I would have never encountered the troodon pack.'_ She didn't like to think about it, but she was being forced to. They normally kept to them selves (the troodon), Abby thought that they were slightly frightened of them, but that day it changed. All of a sudden Abby's thoughts went wild, _'it must have had something to do with them. That's the only reason for it…' _she was filled with all the pain from her childhood, how her family was torn apart by a divorce and her parents problems, she was always alone, and she would be alone now, lost in the forest, waiting for Connor. _'They must have done something, that David and Alice…' _she then thought of when she saw the flower's gone and saw foot prints that didn't look like Connors, but at the time she thought how could have been anyone else's.

ooOOoo

"So since you are not a threat to us, we would like for you to sign the classified gag contract." said Lester pulling out folded paper's from his jacket.

"Why is this all a secret, what is it that you do at this ARC?" asked Alice.

"Not that' it's any of your business, but your reaction is one reason. We don't want people going into the past and mucking about. We have already had the world change; I have no desire to have it happen again." Just as he handed them the contract Abby quickly opened the door.

"Look, I can't wait any longer." With every moment she was down stairs the wilder her thoughts became. she was abscessing on what caused the stir in the cretaceous that day, the day that was happening again. "I need to ask them something before it's too late."

"Fine we are done here, I have other things to get done anyway, ah Danny, make sure they sign the contract." Lester said as he walked out the room.

"I have a question, why did you go through the anomaly?" asked Danny with curiosity.

"Simple, I thought it was my world, that maybe Jack changed it."

"Jack?" Abby asked moving over to the other side of the table were Alice and Hatter were.

"The King." Alice answered.

"changed what?" Abby asked.

"the looking glass." Said hatter.

"So you were trying to get back?" Danny said leaning against the counter near the door.

"No. I just, wanted a visit. Look I don't want to talk about wonderland anymore."

"Good, I have to ask you about the anomaly."

"Abby, I have to sort something out, are you ok to talk to them on your own?"

"Yes, I'm good." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'll need to talk to you later." He said from the door way.

"Ya, ok later." She said turning back to the couple. "So, when you were in the past, you saw nothing, heard nothing?" She said sitting herself down across from them, trying to repress her new mad excited thoughts.

"The past?" asked Alice.

"In the anomaly."

"Well the wind would-of drowned out any sounds there might have been." Hatter answered.

"But you went to the valley, there's no wind there."

"Uh, why does this matter?" asked Alice.

"Um, you see, I was, _am_ there now in the past. I need to know if you had anything to do with what happened." She was unsure if this sounded calm, her stomach was turning as she thought of what was possibly happening to her now.

"What happened?" asked Alice.

"I went to check one of our traps in the morning before Connor woke up and to see how the _flowers you took_ were doing, it was a surprise to see them gone. I did see your tracks but I assumed that Connor did it."

"Eh, sorry but I don't understand. So that portal was a door to the past?" Hatter questioned.

"Anomaly, yes."

"But how did you get there if not through this one, you were already there?" said alice.

"Yes, we went through another one in another place, well 2 really." She said slightly irritated that she wasn't getting any answers and having to deal with answering _their_ questions.

"Why are the called anomaly's, if they are all over the place, it seems rather common." Hatter mused.

"Well they have, we have only." Hatter cut her off.

"I mean if that goes to the distant past then it's been happening since then, it seems like a natural part of your world."

"Okay, this is not a discussion on what we should call them. I need to know if you set off the pact." She said not hiding her frustration. _'Why is he so difficult?'_ she thought as she rambled off some ideas. "Did you make any noise, move anything, have perfume on or something?" she stood up and started to sniff Alice from across the table. Abby felt crazed, she wanted someone to blame for what happened. Alice was looking at her like she was mad, but she did not care. She moved over to Hatter with a long sniff and leaned in close to him over the table. She thought she could smell something. She did not notice that she was only a few inches from his face.

"Uh, could you stop smelling my face?" he was feeling very uncomfortable but he said this lightly. Abby looked at him not moving away. She felt there was something about him, she started to feel like a nut, '_I'm smelling people like a dog.'_

"Abby!" Connor rushed in excited to tell her Cutter was here. Then he saw Abby only inches away from David looking in each others eyes "What the?" _'What the hell is going on?'_ his thoughts went crazy.

"What you doin?" he said looking from Abby to David.

"She was smelling us." Alice said with a confused aversion on her face. Connor looked from Alice then back to Abby. She was still leaning over the table but was looking at him; she opened her mouth like she was going to say something but instead a sad sigh came out. She felt ashamed of her actions.

"Abby?" Connor asked with concern, "you were smelling them?" he asked slowly.

"I, I was trying to find if they spooked the packed." She said straitening up and taking a step back.

"By smelling them?" he said studying her face.

"Don't look at me like that." She said not looking up, she knew what this must of looked like.

"Abby, I just don't understand, you were fine earlier, saying we shouldn't do anything and you were right. What happened?" she said nothing; Connor's concern was growing with every silent second.

"These people are crazier than the queen." Whispered Hatter. Connor glared at him before he took a step toward Abby.

"Ab's its in the past, we got through it, you can't go loopy on us now, we have more pressing matters, than something in the past we can't change." Abby thought _'how do you know it can't be changed?'_

"What matters?" asked Hatter intrigued. Connor glared at him again, thinking _'who the hell are you?'_ he went over to her putting his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to have been able to tell Abby in a more energetic way, but the mood called to be more gentle.

"Cutters back." He said softly, but his repressed excitement could still be heard. Abby quickly looked at him.

"What do you mean cutters back?" she said confused

"What's a cutter?"

"Mate, could you just?"

"Maybe you should be quiet Hatter." Said Alice in his ear.

"He came through the anomaly, he's down stairs now." He said kinda jumpy, he could not contain his excitement any longer. "its wild to be able to look at him; this is the most unreal thing!" he said with his smile blaring across his face. She said nothing; she could not believe that cutter was here.

"How?" was all she could say.

"The anomaly was at the university. I can not tell you what it was like to see him just walking in the court yard!"

"This is insane, first we find someone from wonderland, we are in two places and now a dead man is back." Connor was waiting to see the reaction he thought Abby would have but it never seemed to come.

Abby felt like she was in shock, she had to see cutter. She just left the room not saying anything. Connor did not notice has his attention now switched from Cutter to the couple.

"Wait, someone from wonderland?" he turned to Hatter and Alice that were watching them. "Your from wonderland, you're the Hatter and Alice, that's not possible?"

"Anything is possible smart boy; you should know that, with a dead man walking about."

"Yes but this is time, not." Connor thought a second of what Cutter said earlier. "Did you come from another time or another reality?"

"Another world."

"Why are you here?"

"We're on a holiday, has we said earlier."

"No, I mean why is someone from wonderland here in this world?"

"Well." He said looking to Alice. "Love for a great woman, there was no way I was going to let her get away."

"Abby can you believe this, Abby?" he said looking around.

"She left a little while ago." Said Alice.

"She probably went to see the dead man; you know I would like to see him to." Hatter said getting up. "I have seen my fair amount of dead men walk again or march as it was." Connor knew he was probably right about Abby, he looked around the room to see that she really was not there anymore.

"Okay what ever." Connor Said not listening as he walked out the room.

"Hatter, what did you mean by that?" Alice said getting up.

"Come on love." He said trying to ignore the question, as he followed Connor. There were something's he did not want to tell Alice, mainly things about his family.

"Hatter?" he knew that tone. "What did you mean?"

"Mad March." Was all he said, he thought that would hopefully explain it.

"March, what about him?" Hatter sighed and thought of how to say this with out saying what he didn't want her to know.

"March was the queens go to assassin, but someone managed to kill him years ago. I wasn't sure it was him until I heard his name in the interrogation room." Now this was a lie, he knew it was March almost instantly but hoped it wasn't and just pretended like it wasn't (he had to, he could not deal with him being alive).

"Okay, you two are unreal." Said Connor as they were getting to the stairs, he could not help but hear what they were saying. "so tell me hatter." He said testing the name. "You told me why you're here, but what do you do, you must do something?"

"I run a tea café, in new York."

"New York eh. How'd you get there?"

"Enough of the questions, where's this dead guy?"

"Well now who's asking questions? And his name is cutter not the dead guy."

ooOOoo

Abby found her way down the stairs fast and at Sarah's lab. She could not see him as she slowly walked over, trying to see around Becker and Sarah, who were hunched over a computer with Paul, she still didn't see him. _'He's not in there. He's not back.' _She turned and saw some one at the detector.

"Cutter?" She had walked right passed him and didn't know it.

"Abby? Wow your hair got long."

"Uh professor don't you think you shouldn't look at that."

"Abby?" asked Connor as he got down stairs with hatter and Alice.

"Oi Connor, Paul thinks he might of found something!" shouted Sarah.

"Show me." Connor said rushing over. "Abby come over here." Connor needed to tell them something before anyone talked to cutter, she walked over slowly.

"Ok, we have dealt with something like this before, but I think it very important that we don't tell cutter about anything before he died, we don't want to alter the past."

"You already told him he was going to die." Stated Becker

"Well it slipped, but he doesn't know when or how, and don't say anything about Jenny or Stephen, okay? So what did you find?"

"I plugged in the times and coordinates into my star program.

Hatter walked over to the man Abby was talking to.

"So your cutter?"

"Who are you?"

"Hatter cant we just go, there is no reason for us to still be here?" Alice said.

"I just want to know what is so special about this oyster."

"Hatter, how many times do I have to tell you, not to use that word?" said Alice irritated.

"Well if they find someone like me 'not out of the ordinary', then he must be fascinating."

"I'm just someone misplaced in time." cutter thought _'hatter is a strange name.'_

"Just? Does this happen a lot, didn't that girl Abby say she and Connor were in the past, and that smug guy said that you lot have changed to world once already, does that have anything to do with them?"

"Hey, what are you doing?" Connor said just noticing Hatter talking to cutter.

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	10. still moments

Chapter 9 still moments

"Oi, Hatty, step away from the detector!" Hatter quickly looks at him,

"What did you call me?" he said glaring at him and slowly walking to Connor. "There was only one person that called me that, and he's dead." said Hatter intensely.

"All right, mate." He said backing into Becker.

"Just leave it." Alice said taking hold of his right arm.

"I think it's about time these two get back to their holiday." Danny Said coming out of no-where. "Becker would you take them."

"Right."

"Come on hatter." Alice said quietly, pulling on his arm as Becker stepped out from behind Connor moving him out of the way. Hatter turned his head to Alice, changing his serious face to a calmer knob. He knew that this was not what he wanted to be doing on Alice's birthday/ proposal vacation.

"Hey Connor?" Danny beckoned. Connor watched as they left, before he moved.

"Ya?"

"Who's that guy at the detector?"

"What, O that's cutter."

"Cutter how is he here?"

"He came through the anomaly and it closed, were trying, Paul is looking into if it will open again."

"Right good, um everyone's here right?"

"Except for Becker, ya." Connor looked at him. "You're going to tell them _now_?"

"As I told Lester, with this job it's never a good time, I've put this off long enough anyway." Danny went over to the group. Connor held back thinking about what he said. _'Long enough… so he's been planning this from the beginning, that's why he's been so distant.'_ He looked over at cutter. _'He looks so lost.' _He wanted to go over and say something but he didn't know what. He then remembered what he was really going through. This was the time he lost Claudia and found out about Stephen and Helen and also being in a changed world, now this. He walked back to Danny and the others.

"You're leaving?" asked Abby. "How can you leave, we need you here."

"No you've got Connor." He said looking to Connor who just walked up. Everyone looked over to him.

"What, me?"

"Ya, Lester agreed that you should be the team leader. You know more than anyone else, you're a great leader; you have done more than I ever could this past week. There's no better person for it."

"Lester agreed?" Abby questioned. Just then Lester walked over.

"So you know the news, Connors the new Cutter. Don't blow it." He paused. "Hopefully you can tell me that there isn't a clone over there."

"Eh, that's cutter from the past." Said Abby.

"We are trying to get him back." Added Sarah.

"And it would be much easier if you would stop interrupting me." Paul interjected irritated, who had just been sitting behind everyone still looking at the screen. "Maybe you could have your goodbye party somewhere else. As I try to see if there will be a way to see if a rip in time will appear."

"Yes, that would be good. You lot could learn from him, this isn't a social club. Get him back. O good more paper work." He said turning and walking off.

"That was odd…" said Connor as he watched Lester leave not even looking at cutter. He thought that Lester would want to talk to cutter or at least have somewhat of a reaction to him being here, but this seemed like nothing.

"I'm going to check on cutter, Abby come on." Connor said putting his hand on the small of her back leading her. She seemed as numb as cutter, he needed to get Abby out of here, she needed a break.

"Cutter you look like you could go for some fresh air, come on lets get out of here."

"But what about getting me back?"

"There's nothing I can do, no point in just sitting here and waiting. Come on, you hungry." Cutter didn't say anything. "Ok let's go to the flat. We can eat and relax, ya." Cutter mad the smallest of nods.

ooOOooOOoo

"Glad to get away from those people." Alice said as they got in their car, back at the park.

"Hm." The rest of the ride to the hotel was filled with tense silence.

"So, that was quit an out burst." She finally said in the elevator, she had been thinking about it since they got in the truck with Becker.

"ya." Was all he said, she kept looking at him as he looked at the numbers change above the doors.

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

"No." he said after a beet, looking at his feet.

"No?" he sighed before he spoke.

"It's a part of my life I left behind. It doesn't matter"

"Well it seems it does, tell me." Hatter just shook his head, but after a moment of rubbing his forehead thinking of what to say.

"I wouldn't know were to start love." He said with his chin resting on his hands and looking at the floor. Alice softly captured his face to have him look at her.

"Just tell me who it was." The doors opened, after a long pause of hatter thinking of what to say.

"My brother." He said walking out going to the room.

"You had a brother, how come you never told me?" she said still in the elevator.

"Because of who he was, he wasn't the nicest guy, to say the least." He said unlocking the door.

"What was his name?" she asked following him in the room, he had to force him self to answer, he knew there was no way out of this.

"March…" he said not facing her, going over to the table in the corner.

"March? Mad March's your brother, I don't understand?" he sat in the chair at the table looking down as he leaned his elbows on his knees taking a deep breath.

"He wasn't always mad, there was a time he looked out for me, we were close, once."

"But wait." She thought of what he said at the arc and his first reaction when he saw March in wonderland. "Back in wonderland, the day we met, you said it can't be; what did that mean?" she never thought anything of it before, but now. He thought quickly.

"It was a man with a mechanical rabbit head, what else would I say?" he felt this was going to go on all night and his romantic vacation was unraveling, had to get it back on track. "Look its getting late, Could we drop this, and get some food?"

"Right, ok." She wanted to talk about this more, but she too felt the hunger pains and thought it better to leave it for another time.

ooOOooOOoo

"Eh, I don't think we have anything in the house." He thought out loud as they pulled up,

"I'll get something from the store; you two go on up, it wont take that long."

"Are you sure, I can go?"

"Con its fine, I got it, go on."

"Ya, so here we are, home sweet home." Said Connor as they got up stairs, Abby went to get some stuff for dinner. Cutter looked around blankly "are you ok?" Cutter had not really spoken much since he got to the arc. He wondered how did he get over all of this and just move on. Thinking three years back.

"Ya I'm fine. It's just been an inexplicable few days…" Connor didn't respond to this.

"So, you will be up stairs, in my old room." He motioned to the stairs on the other side of the flat, as he sat down on the sofa. "Abby, might be a while. Are you just going to stand there? Look, I know this must be hard, but you need to relax. That's what I learned, with my time in the, over the past year." He almost said something about the cretaceous. He was finding it hard to know what to say. He wished he knew what was important.

"So tell me what was the thing, action man had." Cutter asked sitting in one of the chairs opposite Connor.

"The handheld? You know about that."

"What does it do, I know it tracks anomaly's, but does it do more?"

"Well, it marks the times and keeps a record of the locations and more recently it scans the anomaly to determine what time is on the other side." He said stretching out with a yon. Rex flew over and sat him self down next to Connor.

"Hey mate, have a good day?" rex chirped back. "You hungry?" he said getting up, heading over to the kitchen. "Sid, Nancy? Supper time." he called out.

"Who's Sid, and Nancy?" cutter said as they came scuttling over from the bathroom. Nancy went over to cutter.

"Hey look she remembers you." Connor said with a laugh as he opened the refrigerator.

"Remembers me?" he said to himself as Nancy barked playfully at him.

"Nancy, dinner." Said Connor making her rush over, running into Sid, who barked at her.

"So you have diiactidons?"

"O ya, they got trapped here and I kept them. Never found an anomaly to put them back." He thought of what he just said and decided to change the subject. "Tea?"

"Ya, ok." Connor looked at the clock.

"I hope Abby will get back soon, I'm getting hungry."

**!please review!**

**Next week I am going to be writing a story about March (cause there is not enough of good stories with him and I just like him), so look for that. I will have another chapter up in two weeks (hopefully).**


	11. Slow Morning

Chapter 10 Slow Morning

"So what was happening just before we left?" cutter asked when Connor came back with the teas.

"What do you mean?" he asked sitting back down.

"Con the little powwow."

"O that, while I seem to be the new team leader, Crazy right?"

"Hm, not really, you seem to be able to handle it from what I've seen. You've really grown."

"I don't know about that, I still feel like a kid." He said with a half laugh.

"Well something's really don't change." Then the front door slammed closed.

"O good." Connor said getting up. "Abb's need any help?" he said from the top of the stairs.

"No I got it." She said getting to the top. "so what have you two been talking about?"

"That Connors the new me, O and I met Sid and Nancy."

"Well you are cot up then, so who's up for spaghetti." She said going into the kitchen. "Con have you got him set up?"

"Set up?"

"Clean up your room." She said not as an order but to clarify. He gave cutter a smile as he got up and went up stairs. Cutter then went to the kitchen to help Abby.

"So what can I do?"

'eh, you can brown the sausage for the sauce." She said filling up a big pot with water.

"So I'm in Connors _old_ room?" he asked with curiosity.

"Hm?" she asked getting some glasses for the wine she got. "Well it's not really a room, but it's where he use to sleep, well he has been sleeping in there the last week, but that's more to habit."

"What do you mean?"

"So everything is all set up for you to sleep." Connor said a little too loudly coming back down stairs. "ooo sausage, smells good." He looked to Abby who had a odd smile. "You seem better." He said in her ear as she was opening the sauce jar.

"Ya I know, I just needed to take some time. Can you help me?" she said handing him the jar. He struggled a bit, but got it open.

"So are you two together?" cutter asked turning from the stove.

"Eh ya." Connor said after a beet.

"The meat is ready." cutter said looking back at the pan. "I'll take that." He said taking the jar from Connor.

"The waters boiling, con can you put the noodles in? I'm just going to go to the, I'll be right back."

"So what's go with you these days?"

"O you know work?" Connor said leaning against the sink.

"What about the last year, you said you learned that you just have to relax. How did you learn that, that's really good advice. I mean after Claudia, I tried to get her back, but you can't change what happens right?" Connor thought about this, then to the anomaly still open in the forest of dean.

"Unless? I think I can tell you this since this happens uh after you're um gone. Me Abby got stranded in the past and" he paused a moment. "I don't know what I'm trying to say, never mind." He said as Abby came back. He really didn't know what he was going to say.

"So everything seems ready." Abby said checking the noodles. "I'll get the plates."

"So I could not help but notice that jenny is not around." Cutter said taking the plate.

"Yes she quit for new horizons." Connor said and left it at that, spooning sauce over his spaghetti. "I am so hungry." He added.

"So she quite then?"

"yes." Abby said. He didn't ask any more about jenny or them being a couple. They talked about old times, and after their second glass of wine. Connor was entertaining them with his impression of Helen (and maybe revealing a little too much in the process).

ooOOooOOoo

Alice and Hatter went to a 'very British restaurant' as Alice called it though it was more of a pub. Hatter loved it; it reminded him of the old dens in wonderland. It put him in a much better mood, and after 2 lagers he was laughing about the days events with Alice, pretending to be Connor.

They walked back to the hotel both a little drunk, holding onto each other in the process. It was just like on their real first date in New York, maybe a bit more drunk, but the same amount of touching and fun.

When they got into the lobby of the hotel, Hatter's phone rang. He looked an it with his blurry eyes, and saw that it was carol.

"Who is it?" she asked with a little swirl to look back at him.

"You go on up, I will be up in a minute." She gave him a seductive smile.

"Alright but don't be to long, I'll be counting the seconds." She said walking backwards to the elevator. He only answered his phone when the doors closed to the elevator.

"Hi carol." His voice came out a bit raspy. He cleared his throat

"How is the trip going, have you asked her yet?" she asked with a tired voice as it was much later in NY.

"Eh no, I was planning that for later in the week and today had its hold ups."

"What kind of hold ups?" she asked concerned.

"It was just a miss understanding, look can I talk to you later, Alice is waiting for me up in the room." Carol tried to say something, but he just continued over her. "It's been a long day, so tomorrow, yeah? Ok bye." He hung up, taking a breath. Then thought of Alice up in the room waiting, it's been some time since they were both this happy like this and he was not going to waist it.

ooOOoo

The next morning Alice was still in bed when Hatter called the desk for some room service. They had both slept in, and planed on just staying in maybe go out and look around the town what ever Alice wanted.

She woke feeling for hatter but he was not there.

"Hatter?" she called raspy still being half asleep. Then she heard the shower running. She looked at the clock, 9:23. She stretched out in the bed like a cat. After a minute of trying to full wake up enough to get out of bed, she went in to the bathroom with hatter.

"Morning." She said startling him a bit.

"Morning, love." He said pulling the Curtin away. "I called down stairs for room service."

"O nice," she said then paused and looked at the steam billowing from behind him. "I need to shower?" after yesterday and last nights escapades.

"Well get in here." She smiled and took off her over sized t-shirt and joined him. He put his wet hands on her hips and gave her a kiss as the water flowed over them both. They got out all fresh and clean to a nock on the door.

"I got it." Said Alice wrapping a towel around her. And it was not their breakfast at the door but two people staring at her in her towel.

ooOOooOOoo

Connor was the first one up, a rarity, but with cutter being there and now being the team leader made him a bit restless. He looked in the fridge to see what food they had. There still were some eggs and sausage left over; so he got to work making it up. Cutter was the second one up, but with Connor being up and making food, Sid and Nancy were also up and went rushing to cutter tripping him making him fall on his arse. Connor heard the commotion and peeked out from the kitchen. He could not help but spit out a laugh, cause Sid was on top of him and Nancy was stumbling try to get him off.

"All right you two, why don't you go wake Abby." Abby came walking out from the bathroom just then.

"Thanks for that con," she said with a smile then changing to confusion looking at cutter getting up. "Lester just called and we have to go and get Hatter and Alice to sign the gag."

"What, wasn't Danny suppose to get them to that yesterday?" he said going back to check that nothing was burning.

"Well, now it's our job." She said following him.

"You mean Lester's is finally going to let us do something together?"

"After a small talk, yes. That looks really good." She said looking at the eggs he was putting on a plate. "Um what are we going to do about cutter?" she said a bit hushed.

"Bring him with us, after breakfast though. There is no reason for us to hurry, is there?"

"Actually, I would like to go to the arc and see or help with the progress."

"Alright, we will drop you off." Connor could not really hide his disappointment.

They ate and went to get cutter a new shirt on their way to the arc, Connor went inside with cutter, to get the name of the hotel the couple was staying at, along with the contract and maybe their cell numbers. But mainly to see how things were going for himself.

He and Abby got to the bear hotel at around 10:00. Connor walked up the to front desk.

"Hello, I am looking for an Alice Hamilton; could you tell me what room she is in?"

"Let me see, yes we have a Miss Hamilton in room 314."

"Thank you very much, cheers." He motion for Abby to follow him, as she was looking at the tourist pamphlets and not paying attention.

**I am not very happy with this chapter, but I feel about that every time, please tell me how you feel about it.**

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	12. Small Box

Chapter 11

Connor looked up at the very wet Alice and his breath hitched.

"Damn." quietly slipped from his mouth before he could stop himself. Which granted him a smack to his chest by Abby, who gave him a warning look; making him glance around trying not to look at either woman. Alice looked at them waiting for them to talk.

"I'm sorry for Connor." Abby said but leaving it at that and leaving another long quiet moment.

"Eh, what do you want?" Alice asked uncomfortable and confused.

"Who is it, love?" Hatter asked walking into Connor and Abby's view, him also just wearing a towel around his lean waist. Alice opened the door more and moved out of the door frame to show their new company better.

"What are you doing here?" Hatter said looking at Connor dead in the eye. Connor pulled his head back a bit at the intensity of his stare and looked to Abby. She didn't look to be put off at his stair, but seemed to be staring at Hatter's bare body. Hatter seemed to notice this to and smirked.

"Maybe we should let you get dressed." Connor said taking a step closer to Abby.

"I might do that if you were staying." Hatter said sitting on the bed, lifting the towel in his hands to his hair to dry it some more. Alice went into the bathroom to get her shirt and quickly slipped it on. "Um, so why are you here?" he said as Alice came back, standing next to him.

"We just need you to sign this." Abby said taking the contract from Connor and handing it to Hatter.

"Oh yes, the gag, you know I think I have more to lose if you talk, maybe I should get you to sign this."

"On offence Hatter, but we have much more important things to do than talk about you. Plus for all we know you're just a nutter."

"Could you just sign it, so we can all get back to our lives?" Abby said to stop them from there pointless banter.

"Well we aren't signing anything with out reading it first." said Alice taking the contract and going over to the table.

"Could I use your loo?" Abby asked walking to the door way.

"Yeah, go on. It might be a bit steamy still." She stopped, looking in, and then gingerly stepped in and closed the door giving Connor an uncomfortable smile (from the wet mess of the bathroom). Hatter continued to look at Connor blankly.

"So…" Connor said with no idea of how to finish the sentence. Hatter just stood up and went to his suitcase to get a shirt; Connor looked around as he leaned against the dresser. He heard something fall and looked to see if Hatter or Alice heard it, they both didn't seem to notice. He looked on the floor and saw a small black box; a box that Connor assumed was a ring.

"Hey, don't touch that." Hatter said sharply in a whisper as Connor picked it up. Hatter's heart raced as he looked over at Alice, worried that she had seen. Connor tossed it to Hatter, who quickly made sure the ring was in it, you can never be sure with a guy named 'con'nor and stuffed it to the bottom of the open bag he just got the shirt out of.

"What are you two doing?" Abby asked, opening the door making Alice turn to see what she was talking about.

"Nothing, I tripped." Hatter said calmly, rearranging the things in the suitcase.

"No, I saw him toss something to you." She said pointing from Connor to Hatter. Hatter gave him a look of don't say anything, which he read right away, it was a look he had made a lot when someone interrupted him and Abby in the past.

"No, I ah am gonna call the team, see how things are going." He said awkwardly, going to the hall and closing the door.

"I'm just going to," Hatter said slipping on some pants "get some ice." He added grabbing the ice tub. Alice stared off at him then looked to Abby; they gave each other the same expression as the looked at each other.

"I don't know." Abby said throwing her hands up, knowing what Alice was thinking.

"Right well, this contract seems fine. I'll get Hatter to sign it when he gets back." Alice paused looking at Abby. "You seem different from yesterday."

"Yes, well a lot happened, and I had to face my past."

"Yeah, I got that. With you blaming us for what happened, hope you don't mind, but what happened?"

"I don't know…"

"I'll tell you what, if you tell me about it, I will tell you about what happened to me in Wonderland." Abby thought a moment, _'maybe it would be good to talk about it, with some one else that Con.'_

"You said you were attacked by a pack?" Alice continued interested.

"Yes… they were agitated, like they had been attacked." She said thinking. "Are you sure you didn't see anything there?"

"There were these strange rocks."

"Rocks?"

"Yeah, they were in a circle, like they were arranged that way. Not like a fire pit, but like a, ah a." she was struggling with how to explain it.

'An alter." Alice nodded "yes, the troodon nest." she said a bit sad, she knew what must have happened. "He must have gone to hunt. You're lucky he wasn't there."

"What do you mean, he?"

"The troodon that was protecting the nest." Alice just looked confused. "The males look after the eggs, to make sure their seed is passed on."

"What's a troodon?"

"Kinda like a raptor but smaller and much more bird like. Did you touch it at all?"

"Yeah I tripped over it." She said with fear realizing in might be her fault. Abby became very still and her face wiped of any sign of emotion.

"Abby, Cutters missing." Connor said urgently, bursting into the room.

ooOOooOOoo

Hatter bumped in to Connor who was still next to the door.

"Oi!" Connor exclaimed at being jostled.

"Sorry mate, eh thanks for, you know." Hatter said holding up his pants because he hadn't secured them yet.

"Oh, yeah it's no big deal." He said not looking at him trying to get his phone.

"No it is, you're not that bad of a guy. If it was me I wouldn't have do it, not with someone like eh, never mind, just thanks."

"I know how it is; people have been doing that kind of thing to me for years. Always walking in on me and Abby or calling, it was always something."

"Ha yeah, nothing like an old boyfriend walking in on you, or a mad man blathering on about the dark arts."

"That happened to you? Seems we have something in common. Ever have to run from a raptor?" He said with a laugh.

"Well, we had to run from a jabberwock" _'and my brother which is worse.'_ Saying the last part in his head and wondering what a raptor was. Connors expression was a mixture of mild shock and amusement.

"So you really are form Wonderland then? The Queen of Hearts, jabberwock and all?"

"Yeah. Um, what's with the blonde?

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday."

"Oh that, well we were reminded of a hard time and she wanted to change it, you know go back, and make sure it didn't happen, I did too, but we can't."

"Why can't you is the portal closed?"

"What no, it's not that."

"Then what is it, if it was me."

"Look I don't want to talk about this, I have to call Sarah, okay?" Hatter gave a nod, thinking he might have put him off and remembered the ice bucket in his hand, so he went off to get the ice. Connor waited for him to turn the corner before he hit send on the phone.

"Hello?" Sarah answered

"How's it going down there, finding anything?"

"Yeah Paul thinks he might of found a link, with the times, when they open."

"Yeah, put him on." He heard Sarah say something to Paul.

"Hello?"

"So you found something?"

"It's just an idea at the moment; I'm trying to confirm it now." He said in a way Cutter used to talk when he thought he was on to something, which made him think.

"So how's Cutter doing, any help is he?"

"Cutter? How would I know, He's not here. Here, talk to Sarah."

"Hello?" Sarah answered

"Paul said Cutter's not there. He must be wrong."

"No, I thought he was with you and Abby. We haven't seen him."

"But I dropped him off, he must be there." He started to get worried now.

"Cutter? The dead man from the past, he's missing?" he jumped a little cause connor didn't notice that Hatter had come back.

"Yeah it would seem. Sarah see if anyone saw him, we are coming back now." He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket and paused a second thinking _'great first day as the team leader and I've already lost Cutter.' _He went to open the door, but it was locked. He looked at Hatter.

"I got it." He said already getting the key card that was, luckily, still in his pocket. When he got it open Connor pushed passed him.

"Abby, Cutter's missing." He looked at Abby's face. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. What do you mean he's missing?"

"He's not at the ARC and nobody's seen him. Look we have to go, find him, now."

"But Hatter hasn't signed the contract."

"We can come back later for it, he's not going to say anything, I'm not losing him again." Abby just looked at him then took his hand, and looked back to Alice.

"We'll back later then." Abby said to Hatter and Alice. "What will Lester say if he doesn't have the-."

"We don't need to get the suit involved with this, it'll get done."

"We won't be here; we are off to London for the rest of the week in the afternoon." Hatter said from behind them, hiding the slight jerk of his head at hearing 'the suit'.

"Well we have your number, we can call you." Connor said leaving the room, but added from the door. "Keep the contract and we will get it later." then closed the door.

"I thought you wouldn't want to see them again." Abby said as the waited for the elevator.

"Their not that bad, where do you think Cutter might be?" said Connor side stepping out of the way for maid with a food cart as the doors opened. Abby thought this change of heart for him might have something to do with seeing Alice in that towel and nothing to do with him not being that bad.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"No, Cutter didn't say anything about wanting to-" Abby cut him off.

"No not Cutter, Hatter."

"He did tell me that he and Alice were chased by a jabberwock." Connor was trying to think where cutter might want to go.

"Well what was happening just before you went to the hall?"

"I knocked the engagement ring; he didn't want Alice to see it, you know. Do you think he would-" Abby started to talk over him.

"Ah he's going to propose; now I know why he's so defensive. We're wrecking his plans." Connor thought she might be right about that, if it was him he wouldn't be very happy either.

"If you were Cutter, where would you go?" Connor thought out loud as they got in the car.

"I don't know, you were closer to him than I was." She thought a moment. "But if I was him I would have thought he would want to stay away from away from learning to much. You know how he was with not wanting to change the past after Claudia."

ooOOooOOoo

"Where is that room service?" Hatter asked.

"I better get dressed." Said Alice going to the open bag where the ring was. Hatter heart started to pound, as she got closer to it.

"You don't have to; remember this is our lazy morning. No need to get dressed." There was a knock on the door and the voice of a woman. _'Room service.' _He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her go to open the door. The woman came in with the cart and put it at the foot of the bed. "Here you are. Have a nice day." the woman said smiling turning to leave. As Alice lifted the tray cover Hatter watched her face smile, he had ordered her favorite. Pancakes in the shape of a star, like her dad made when she was little, and a grape fruit. See that smile he felt tomorrow, Alice's birthday, was the day he was going to purpose. It would be perfect, he would make it perfect.

"I know its not really your birthday, but." He said getting reaching over getting the small bag that was on the bed stand. "Here is just a little something." He said pulling out a small box covered in tissue paper and tied with plain twine. Alice looked at it, '_that's not…'_ she thought. _'It almost looks like a ring box._' She smiled big at the idea, but she did want to give her hopes up, it had only been a year, though that was much longer than any other relationship she had had.

"What is it?" she asked taking the box and sitting next to him on the bed.

"You have to open it to find out, love." She slowly untied the twine and folded back the tissue. She looked at the box it said 'J&J Jewelers' in gold letters. She looked back at Hatter as her heart began to flutter. He was watching, waiting for her to open the box. She was almost afraid to, but she pulled open the box, it was most certainly not a ring, though she was really surprised to see a silver pocket watch. She must have known it was too big to be a ring. She felt a tiny bit of a fool to think that it could be.

"It's beautiful." She said lifting it out of the box to see it better.

"It's engraved." He said opening it.

"To my Alice,

That my love will never stop, to go on ticking forever,

Love, Hatter."

Alice turned to look at him.

"Thank you…" he kissed her softly.

"You know I love you." He said resting his forehead on hers.

"Hm." She hummed before kissing him back. "I know." she said with a smile. She could tell he wanted to kiss some more, but she thought it would be more fun to tease him. She put the watch back in the box and set it on the night stand with one hand as she leaned over him but instead of a kiss she got the plate of pancakes behind him. As she went to sit back up she found that he had wrapped his arms around her waist. He turned her so she was facing up, granting a small squeal from her, making her drop the plate on the bed.

"What about you love?" he asked playfully. "Do you love me?" she just shrugged her shoulders biting the smile on her face. "Huh?" he said with a big smile, he could play this game better than her. "Do ya?" he said tickling her. She squirmed in his lap, before laughing.

"Stop it." She said in laughing gasps.

"Answer the question." He said continuing to tickle her, laughing a little him self.

"Yes, yes! I love you!" he bent down and gave her a passionate kiss; as they kissed he grabbed the plate from behind him. He sat up, pulling off one of the star's rays from the pancake.

"Hungry?" she nodded. He fed her the small bit.

They sent to rest of the morning in bed eating and just enjoying laying with each other with out having to worry about work or the next support group or whatever came up back at home.


	13. He's here

As Connor and Abby got to the car, Abby's phone rang. She got it out and looked at it confused.

"Who is it?" Connor asked.

"I… don't… know." She said looking at the number then lifting it to her ear. "Hello?" she answered.

"Abby? It's Jenny."

"Jenny, how did you get my number?" Abby asked surprised to hear Jenny's voice on her phone. Connor leaned in close to listen after hearing who it was.

"Sarah gave it to me when she told me you and Con got back a few days ago. Look, I think you should come over."

"Is Cutter there?" Connor asked.

"Connor is that you? I can't tell you how nice it is to hear your voices again."

"Is Cutter with you or not. We don't have time for this."

"Connor?" Abby said a bit stunned at his rudeness.

"Ok, yes it's good to hear from you too, why are you calling?" he said trying to sound nicer.

"Well there is a man that does look like Cutter, but it can't be right? I just thought, wait it is Cutter, how? Why is he, how?"

"Jenny, just keep him there and try not to tell him anything about how he died." Abby said.

"What do you mean, how he died?"

"Well he's from the past, just after he meet you."

"So he doesn't know me, then why is he here?" Abby and Connor both could hear a faint knocking.

"Well we don't know, you are just going to let him in and find out."

"Ya, what should I say to him."

"Jenny, are you still on Loralnotting?" Connor asked, taking Abby's phone and getting in the car. He gestured at Abby to get in.

"Yeah…" he heard her open the door.

"We'll see you in a bit."

"Okay, bye." She said a bit high pitched as he hung up.

"Should I tell Sarah?" Abby asked.

"Why do you think she called us, and not her?" Connor asked Abby.

"Well Sarah really didn't know him very well, he died only a few weeks after she met him." she said thoughtfully. "And well she might of, though it didn't sound like it." She said answering her own question. "You know…" she said thinking back.

"What?"

"Eh, nothing."

"Abby?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking…about Rex, I need to clean the roost he made up in the rafters." She said thinking of a change of subject. Connor thought that wasn't what she was thinking, but knew better to push it, at least for now. "Its going to be weird, Jenny and Cutter, like the old days." She went on.

"Yeah, it's weird. We should all be dead and yet here we are getting together, and you use to think my sci-fi obsession was out there. Our lives are way crazier, can someone say outer limits." He said with a small laugh. Abby smiled at him, she felt like she had not see her old nerdy Connor in a long time, she kinda missed his humor, but she did like how he grow up and took care of her like he did. Connor glanced at her.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're just cute." Connor could not help but smirk as he turned on to Jenny's road.

"Well here we are." Abby said as she looked at Jenny's house. "Remember the last time we were here?"

"Eh, the day we all saw 'Wall-E'?"

"Yeah that was a good night, with her breaking out the cider."

"Oh yeah" he laughed. "That was the most loose I ever saw her. Ha, when she started singing I almost lost it."

"Well lets go." Abby said getting out of the car slowly laughing a little about that night.

"Ah, yeah…" he said following her out. He was feeling so odd right now, and he didn't know why. Something was telling him it was off, this did not seem right.

"Abby, hold on." He said just has she got to the stoop.

"What, you were so eager to get here?" she said turning and looking confused.

"I was just thinking what cutter said." He paused shaking the thoughts from his head. "Sorry, go on and knock." He said waving it off as he went to the door. _'There was no way this was a time loop'_ he thought. "Can you remember not seeing Cutter for a few days, right after the worm mission?" he asked thinking back as she knocked on the door not able to fully clear his mind.

"Um… I don't know, but you know Cutter he kept lots of things close to the chest. Why?" she thought he might have been thinking what she was before and was waiting for him to say it.

"I'm just thinking, maybe if he, if this-" But his words where cut off by the door opening swiftly.

ooOOooOOoo

After Alice and Hatter had finished their leisurely breakfast, talk seemed to move to family and childhood stories. Hatter always enjoyed hearing her stories but he had gone a quiet, something Alice took notice of. He had grown use to not thinking about his childhood or talking about it. Though Alice was not just chatting about old times for no reason. She thought if she started things lightly he might tell her more about his past. It didn't seem to be working; he was not really saying anything.

She had been talking about the time she spent 2 weeks with her aunt in Maine.

"She was a wild woman, I remember one time when I slept on the porch and when I woke up she had planted all these tall flowers around me. It was a wild way to wake up. At first I thought the flowers were talking cause I didn't see her." she paused, she could not see his face, as she was laying on his chest, he was stroking her hair.

"Hm, seems nice." He said softly.

"How come you don't talk about your past any more?" she asked consciously, hoping he would just shut down like last night. "You use to tell the best stories. Like the one about your dad taking you to the lake and the hat master one and Rose, she sounds nice." She could feel him tense as he rested on her shoulder. He had thought over the night that it best to not keep secrets from her, at least about his past.

"She was before she stared to work for the queen."

"What did she do?"

"She worked in the casino, they liked her look but I think it was her voice most of all. Keep the oysters in the trance, didn't see her after that." Alice thought about this then asked.

"How do you know this?"

"March told me once. He fancied her, not like he ever told me this, but I wasn't blind." When she heard him mention March she sat up slowly to see his face, and sat cross legged facing him.

"What changed, what made him go from looking out for to trying to kill you?" she asked softly she knew she had to sound calm and not accusing, though there was a distinct change from last night. She thought that it was just a hard day and admitting March was family might be hard.

"I don't know, him and Pa never seemed to get on… I think he was always going to end up like the way he is, you know." He thought this really was true; he wasn't what you would call social or empathetic.

"Well why don't you tell me about him?" he looked away shacking his head.

"I don't know..."

"Come on, you have to have a nice story with him? You said he wasn't always, you know..."

"Um, ok. Let me think love…" he could not think of a good story to tell her, all that came to mind was him killing pa, all his threats, o and ya him trying to kill him many years ago before the truth room. Then he managed to think way back to when they were kids.

"Well one time when Pa was out working, March woke me up for early for a Happy-birthday-backwards-day-fest. I was like, um, six. He and Rose set up a table full with breads and cakes outside. There were kettles bubbling over a fire and the smell of bush meat frying up, it was great. We sung and outgribed and one would yell 'its tea time' and we would change cups and pour a new tea. I can tell you Pa was pissed when he got home. Ha ha, oh my god, we made such a mess. Rose pretended to be our mum, dressed in her work apron wielding a roller…ya." Alice sat listening smiling at him speak with such joy at talking about his past.

"Uh, we should probably get going." He said looking at the clock. "It's going to take some time to get to the hotel and I want us to get there before supper." He said pushing himself off the bed.

"Yeah, okay. I do want you to tell me some more story's from now on."


	14. Stories Never Told

**I have what I think is exciting news but you will have to wait just a bit, here's a hint: it has to do with my next story idea, which came from a idea in this chapter.**

Chapter 12 Stories Never Told

The instance the door opened Abby and Connor found themselves in a three way hug.

"I can't believe you three are all here." Jenny said in a muted excitement and what also seemed to be relief. Connor was surprised at the way she looked the old image of here in posh cloths and always prefect hair was what he remembered, but she looked rather casual, in simple worn navy pants, a plan shirt under a dark tan button down, her hair even seemed to be lighter. This was all he had time to process before he or Abby could respond before Jenny took their hands and leading them inside "Well come on."

She walked them down the hall then paused looking in the living room where Cutter was looking at some pictures on the wall.

"Abby will you help me. I was gonna…" Connor did not here what she said as she and Abby left him behind in the hall. He looked over at Cutter who seemed to glance at him, then at a table next to him before he fully turned to him.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked calmly.

"Huh, she called us." Connor said tilting his head down the hall. "Why are you here Cutter?" he asked matching his tone. He saw Cutter glance at the table again. Making him look more closely and saw there was an old journal there. _'That must be hers._' He thought he could see why he would be interested in the book, it being her secrets.

"Just wanted to see Cla-Jenny."

"Why would you hide that, you said you wanted to help the team, but you didn't. You could have just told us, and not disappear."

"Connor, you were kinda treating me like a child, I am not going to ask you if I can go somewhere." Connor really didn't know what to say to that. He didn't think he was doing that, but maybe he was.

"Sorry, I just don't want anything to happen, to you... so um what have you and, been talking about?"

"Mostly how, why I'm here, how nice it is to see me again." Cutter looked to the floor a second. "I am just going to go to the bathroom." He walked passed Connor leaving him wondering why he was acting so oddly. He looked back to the small table and to the book that lay there. _'Maybe it was because of something in it. She must have written something about him.' _He walked over to the chair next to it and sat down. He wanted to look inside it but thought it rude. But the temptation was too great. He looked over the book and could not stop himself from picking it up. It was well worn; the pagers had started to yellow. The leather that bound it was dry and cracking. He saw a bit of almost gone gold lettering on the front. It seemed to have said 'for Jenny' he thought it must have been a gift as his thoughts went back to their first holiday with Jenny. He thought that maybe Cutter had given this to her, hence Cutter's interest in it. He heard Jenny and Abby talk in the kitchen and shifted a little thinking they were coming in the room, he listened a tense moment and found that they were still occupied with what ever they were doing. Knowing they were still busy with what ever he felt free to just have a peek in.

He slowly opened the front cover and saw a hand written inscription. It didn't look like Jenny's feminine writing, but rather a ruff rushed script, almost like…

'_**Cutter do not read this when you find it in 2011. You will know what to do with it when the time is right.'**_

This seemed an odd thing for her to write he thought as he closed to book thinking, then opened it quickly to the first entry.

'_**When I think about Helen and the last few days I can see why she might seek the future. I do fear what will happen if or when she gets there. Though it's hard to come back and have Claudia or I should say Jenny not know me….'**_Connor stopped reading quickly and slowly closed the book.

"This is Cutter's." He said quietly to himself, he squeezed the book in his hands, not wanting to let it go, the inner thoughts that cutter never showed was in his hands. He looked back at the book, _'he must be talking about when he lost Claudia.'_ But then he flipped through the rest of the book quickly seeing that the book was not empty as he thought it would be if he was talking about a few days ago his time. _'Maybe he means now, these are the days. So he does get back, this proves it. Maybe that's why he came here, why he didn't, where do this come from?' _his thoughts quickly changed track.

He got up with the journal in hand, going to the bathroom. He found the door was closed over, so he knocked lightly.

"Cutter?" there was no response. He pushed open the door and saw Cutter just looking in the mirror.

"I'm fine, just thinking," he turned to Connor then looking to what was in his hand. "What are you doing with that?"

"Nothing just holding it, can I ask where you got this?"

"Why?"

"Well, um I guess it doesn't matter, just wondered when you found this that's all and when you wrote this."

"I haven't, yet."

"So do think this is proof that you get back?" Connor could not help but ask.

"It seems very probable."

"You're lucky you're just a few years off. I mean being lost in the pasted was rough, eh…" he trailed off cursing himself then thought what if he did tell him about being lost. '_What real harm could it do to tell him , since it happened after he died and if he does go back like the journal implies, then he might have told him already and that was what was suppose to happen, but then again what if he didn't tell Cutter before. Then this might change history, his history. May be that was a good thing."_ He thought making him have a bit of a brooding look on his face.

"Con?" Cutter asked breaking his train of thought.

"Hm." He said lifting his eye brows quickly.

"You alright?"

"Yup. Maybe we should see what the girls are up to." He said pursing his lips in an embarrassed way, walking to the kitchen where he thought they were.

ooOOoo

"Abby will you help me. I was going to make some sandwiches."Jenny said leaving Cutter and Connor behind. Abby wondered what she and Cutter had been doing before they got there.

"It's really good to see you again. It must have been horrible to be marooned and for _so long_, you must have thought that you would never get back. It's amazing you're back and safe and more amazing that Cutters back." Jenny said getting some bread. "If not concerning, even more is what he showed up with."

"What?"

"Well I am not sure why he is giving it to me; it's filled with what seems to be filled with just his thoughts. He doesn't seem to know why he wrote it." Abby was trying to make sense of what she was saying, it seemed this was way she wanted to talk with her alone.

"What are you on about?"

"His journal, it seems he wrote it for me."

"What journal?"

"One from his future, and our past. Yeah, I know confusing." She said looking at Abby's expression. But she was not confused it was a confirmation of what she had been thinking.

"Is that all you talked about, the journal?" Abby asked.

"No." Jenny said going to the refrigerator. "There was of course the shocked banter, on both sides. He kept on saying how much I looked like, you know. With my hair and well, we should really get to making these, yeah." She said flashing a smile as she turned back around with her arms full up. Abby thought it odd at her change, Abby could tell it was all a bit much, it kinda reminded her how she reacted. Being faced with your past just seemed to scatter ones brain.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, of course." Jenny said flipping her hair out of her face and trying to seem fine, but then looked at Abby and sighed. "It's just, I wish I would have known him then, trusted him. He knew, he knew all along and never said anything, well that's not true. I should have listened…"

"There was know why you could have known, No body knew. But what's important is that you know now."

"But that's the point, what good is it now, he's going back and he will be gone again. Why would he think this would be good?" she said sounding exasperated.

"Maybe he wanted you to know how he felt, and that it was okay."

"_Okay_, about what?"

"I don't know." Abby said with a small laugh. "Just trying to make sense of it."

"Yeah, well that makes three of us that don't know." She said with a smile going to slice up some tomatoes and handing Abby a knife to do the same to an onion.

"So." Jenny continued. "How is it being back?"

"Ah, it's good, but it's wilder here, not as dangerous but more absurd." She answered thinking about it.

"I don't know how you survived there for so long. You must have some hard times." Jenny said warily watching Abby's face. Abby had just started to forget about the dean anomaly. She wasn't sure if it was even still there, but if only she didn't get reminded of it all the time she could let it go. Her thoughts drifted back to when she lay in that trench for hours unable to move.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." Jenny said seeing Abby's face go blank and her body stiffen.

"No it's ok, there were some good times." Abby said not realizing she had gone silent pushing her thoughts away.

"There were, when was that?" Connor said with cutter behind him. "Oh food. Eating again so soon."

"That was hours ago Con." Abby said amused.

"Yes well I am still getting use to eating all the time."

"Whys that?" Cutter asked going over to Jenny.

"Eh." Connor didn't know what to say.

"You know them just getting back fr-." Jenny stopped short seeing Connor and Abby's faces. Cutter looked to Abby to Connor then to Jenny with a suspicious-confused face.

"Ok what aren't you telling me?" he asked. There was a silent fight between Connor and Abby. Then Connor remembered the journal in his hand and thought that maybe it was no big deal.

"I think we can tell him." Connor said to Abby.

"I don't know." Abby replied.

"Well I have been thinking that time is fixed. I know that you may not think so with what has happened with." He gestured to Jenny. "But it only makes sense when you think about it. With Cutter and this journal. And us in the cretaceous and just knowing that there is a future, then it seems it can't change right?" Connor only slightly noticed Cutter take notice of him saying 'us in the cretaceous' and Abby's eyes quickly shift to the book him his hands. As he was far to focus on trying make his thoughts coherent.

"But we have changed things in the past and it altered the future." Cutter said.

"But you said it yourself, with the time loop." Cutter seemed think this over. Jenny and Abby didn't really know what they were talking about.

"What's your point?" Abby asked.

"My point is we have already done it. If tomorrow is the next days past, than the future will also always be sometimes past."

"I don't understand." Said Jenny.

"We are always concerned with not changing the past but it's already a past and if all times are a past, then everything is set." Abby was giving him the look that told him he should wrap it up. "And if it's all set then there is no reason to tiptoe around and keep cutter in the dark."

"Connor what you're saying, means there is no free will. What would be the point of life if that was true?" Connor didn't know what to say to that, it was a good point. "But I think you're right about what you said earlier about the journal and me."

'Exactly it has already happened."

"I think we should all just relax and forget all our concerns for now and just enjoy the fact we are all here." Abby said feeling the tension in the room grow. "Not what about what is to or not happen." Abby was saying this to all of them but more to Connor and herself. "Remember you told me that." She said lowering her voice looking at Connor.

"Live in the moment we are in now, yeah?" Connor replied. "But we are here, not back there, it's different now." She gave him that look again, the look that she knew what he was thinking. A look he saw filled with sadness. He hated to see it, it mad him feel like it was his job to protect her from that, he just looked at her a moment. For some reason it reminded him of something. He didn't know what, but it made his stomach turn with lose, almost like his heart was breaking. He looked to the floor as a feeling like he was remembering something almost overwhelmed him; he had a foggy image in his mind of her walking away. But this never happened he considered a second that it was in a movie but he never watched anything like that. He kept blinking trying to get ride of it. Then the words 'I thought that you were coming back,' filled his mind. He looked to the three of them in front of him as they just stared at him.

"You're right." He finally said clearing his throat. "You're right, let's just enjoy this moment." He said putting the journal down on the counter. That feeling of lose and sadness stayed with him though, as they had their lunch and chatted about anything but about what was or was to be. Mostly they talked about their times before the ARC, before any of them met. They talked about what they would have never talked about before (to each other), Connor spoke of him mum dieing when he was young and staying with his garn, Abby about the time she and her brother ran away from home, Jenny about how she met her ex fiancé, Cutter about some of his field work around the world. It was odd how light it all was, there was a lot of laughter. As the time passed, talk became more and more comical, as they talked about all the small ridiculous moments of their lives.

It was with a call that made them realize it was past 4:00. A call for jenny, who jumped when the phone rang. Abby seemed to be the only one to notice her smile when she looked at who was on the phone. Connor was to busy reading a text and cutter had his back to her.

"If you'll excuse me? I'll just be." she said heading over to the hall, but Connor cut her off.

"No need, we should go ourselves. Lester just texted me about the contract." He finished talking just to Abby, getting up. As he Abby and cutter left Connor glanced back to the kitchen he really wanted to look at it more, but they all did, however it was for Jenny. Though it was not like there was no time, he was not going anywhere and neither was Jenny. As Connor closed to door he sighed getting his phone from his pocket.

"I'll call Hatter; see where we can meet them. Can I just say how much I enjoy saying that?"

"I knew you would." Abby said.

**So have you guessed what my next story will be? **

**Well here it is**

**It's going to be Cutters journal. I am super excited to write it!**

**Hope you liked this chapter and sorry there was no Hatter or Alice, but there will be much more of them in the next chapter.**

**O and if you want to know more about the stories that were talked about the peps past. Just tell me and I might just write them up for you.**

**! Please Please Review ! **

**I love to know what you all think.**

**V**

**V**


	15. Rushed in Waiting

**So, so, so sorry for loooong wait for this chapter. Had a major brain block, Well hope it was worth the wait**.

Chapter 14 Rushed in Waiting

Hatter and Alice got the hotel much faster than Hatter thought they would, so their room wasn't ready, but the moment that Alice saw all the shops. She wanted to get something for her mom.

"I said that I would get her something and what's a vacation without souvenirs?" Hatter thought this was a good idea, plus it would give him time to finalize how he was going to propose tomorrow. He had realized on the drive over that he had no plan, the only thing that he really thought of was this holiday and to get away from Carol and the support group's shadow.

Alice was looking in a window of a dress shop when Hatter's phone rang.

"Hello?" Hatter answered.

"Is it mom?" Alice asked turning from the dress she was admiring. He just shook his head as he listened to who it was. "Well, who... oh." she remembered that the Connor guy was going to call.

"Right, let me ask Alice." He said looking to Alice. "What do you think about going to dinner with Connor and the girl and the dead guy?" Alice didn't really know how to answer that. Their time with them was odd, though no where near as odd as anything in Wonderland_. 'That girl, Abby I think that's her name seemed alright, besides her freak out.'_ This time alone with Hatter was great, but she missed the company of the Wonderland refugees in the support group.

"Yeah, that could be fun."

"Ok we're in… Oh well good, to right. Ha ha ok." Hatter hung up the phone. "Um what time is it?" Alice went to look at up the time on her new pocket watch, but Hatter just looked at his phone.

"4:30. we should get back are you ready to go or do you want to go in here first?" he asked seeing her looking disappointed.

"Well what time do we need to go?" she asked.

"He said he would pick us up at the hotel at 6:00."

"Well we've still got time; the hotel is only a few min's away."

Hatter was really feeling the pressure about making the proposal special. He waited for Connor to pick them up and looked at the tourist pamphlets. He found himself absent mindedly reading one, a green one that said 'hidden garden' on it. Alice was up stairs still getting ready. He found himself thinking about the story Alice told him early, it just kept on popping into his head. The talking flowers and her wild aunt.

"This is perfect." He said to himself, why didn't he think of it before, he would do it at the rose garden, he started to make up the plans. He thought fast filled with excitement and relief. He would do it at the same time he found her in NYC. He would never forget that time.

He had stared at the clock in the gelato shop right next to her apartment, waiting for Alice to get back from hospital. Two o'clock, Carl had said they be back by. That had been the first time Hatter was told a time to do something. The person behind the counter of the gelato shop must of thought him a nut asking what time it was all the time. The first time he asked she just pointed to the clock. He stood there for the first time feeling shy and unsure; he had never seen a working clock before. When he told Alice this she laughed and said _'what, was the queen related to captain hook?'_ the women could tell that he didn't know how to tell time, when she saw his face.

"Oh I'm sorry its 12:37." Around the 3rd time he asked she said she saw that look on kids faces all the time, because she worked at a daycare during the week. As he waited they chatted and she even tried to help him with telling time. Hatter thought it odd to block your day in such ways and in so many different increments. He didn't why it couldn't be more like Wonderland, with their pocket watches, they (the watches) didn't tell time like the oyster ones did, but showed date's and what time of the day it was like dawn and day, dusk and night. Though most who had these worked for the queen, so she could call them in, as they would ring when she wanted them.

Stuffing the pamphlet in his pocket, Hatter went to the front desk.

"Excuse me but would it be possible to have flowers delivered to my room?"

"Yes we can do that. What did you have in mind?" the man asked.

Alice could not decide what to wear and after the fifth time asking Hatter what he thought, he left said he was going to wait for Connor in the lobby.

It was odd of him not to give his opinion. She liked when he said what he liked on her, he was not like some of her old boyfriends being all possessive and telling her what to wear and what not to, saying things like 'you can't wear that you look like a whore.' Hatter was always more supportive and helpful and though today he kept on wondering off with an odd look on his face.

She was hoping that the family talk wasn't making him antsy. It was something she was good at sensing because she was trying not to do it herself. Like when hatter springed this vacation on her she started to rethink if she wanted to really be with Hatter. But she tried not to act on that impulse and she was really glad she didn't. This trip was great if not a little weird.

As she was looking at the outfits she narrowed down on the bed her phone rang. She ignored the first few rings thinking it was Hatter to tell her to hurry up. She still hadn't decided yet and was just in her underwear. She looked from the new summer dress or the new cap sleeve ruffle blouse and jeans. Then she sighed at the 4th ring and walked over to the bed side table where her phone was charging and sat on the bed.

"I'm still not ready."

"Hello?"

"Oh I'm sorry mom, I thought you were Hatter, what's up?" she said happy to hear it was her mom.

"Nothing, I have just been calling you all morning, that's all." She said irritated.

"Well sorry. I forgot to get the converter for my charger, Hatter had to go out and get me one… I got you something." She added happily and trying to lessen the tension.

"You didn't have to do that…" carol softened.

"I know but I was in a jewelry store and saw something I knew you would love."

"What were you doing in a jewelry store?" Alice sighed but before she could answer, she continued. "Was Hatter with you, oh did he? No, no um so what are you doing now?" she ended fast.

"Did he, what?" she asked suspiciously.

"What, oh nothing I was just thinking about Joey at work." She said not too convincingly.

"Right. Um why didn't you just call Hatter?" Alice asked not sure why she was acting so spazy.

"Oh you know him, he doesn't like to talk to me and I wasn't going to try again after the last night."

"You called last night? Wait what did he say to you?" Alice asked worried of what he might of said. Carl paused before she answered.

"He was just a bit flustered about whatever happened yesterday…" she said this with just a hint of a question but Alice choose not to go into it.

"Oh yeah…" a knock on the door stopped her from having to explain more. "Oh shit, mom I have to go, me and Hatter are having dinner with some people. I will talk to you later." She said in a rush and grabbed the blouse and jeans hanging up the phone. "I'll be right out Hatter." She called out quickly putting on the cloths and going to the door to open it for him, but turning back to put on some flats.

"Blimy…" says a man that was not Hatter, though it did kinda sound like him, she turns fast to see.

"Connor? Where's Hatter?" she said stiffly caught of guard as she had not fully buttoned her shirt, but Connor didn't answer. "Do you make a habit of this?" She said slipping on her flats.

"Um… Hatter, was busy, told me to get you." Connor said shifting making her smile a little at how innocent and uncomfortable he looked. "sorry." He added.

"Busy with what?" she asked walking to the door grabbing the key card and the pocket watch that she made into a necklace as she bought a at the jewelry store.

"Um, I don't know… what did you two do today?" he said fast, it seemed he wanted to get away from talking about Hatter, as he pressed the down button for the elevator.

"Nothing much, just did some shopping."

ooOOooOOoo

After Abby, Connor and Cutter left Jenny's they went back to their flat, because none of them wanted to go the ARC and deal with Lester, so Connor called in to get the info he needed, like where Hatter and Alice where staying. As he was getting the details he looked at the clock and saw that it was getting around dinner time.

"Abby?" he called out. "What do you think if we had a night out?" Abby walked out from the kitchen with a bowl of fruit for Rex.

"What do you mean? We have to do that contract thing before Lester blows a gasket."

"No I know, we all could go out for dinner, it could be nice. I mean it seems like we all could have a nice time. It'll be fun to be able to talk to someone that's outside of the arc." He knew that they were not suppose to be talking about work with anyone, but he felt a bit of a kinship from what they seemed to have been through.

"Yeah, alright and we could right it off for work." She smiles. "Some place nice…" she adds going to tell cutter back in the kitchen.

"I'll just call him then." He yells to her and adds to himself "and see if they even want to…" he finished up with the call at the arc.

Only after Abby convinced Cutter to go with her to get some nicer clothes, so they could go to dinner. 'Even if they say no, we are going' she said as she and Cutter left. (That morning they had only grabbed a t-shirt and a cheap button down for cutter). Did Connor call, the phone rings a few times before Hatter answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, mate its Connor. Look we were wondering if you and Alice would like to have dinner with me, Abby and Cutter. You could give us the contract and then we could have a nice dinner, what do you think?" he said fast.

"Right, let me ask Alice…" Connor waited for the answer hearing their murmured conversation.

"Ok we're in"

"Great and well pay for it, so don't worry."

"Oh well good, to right."

"And Abby wanted to go to a nice place, so ya…"

"Ha-ha ok."

"Well see ya, oh wait well be by around 6:00." Hatter hung up the phone so fast he was not sure if he caught the last bit. He hoped he heard and hoped it would gave Abby and Cutter time to get back and ready by then. In the mean time he looked for a restaurant and made a reservation.

As he waited for them to get back he found himself checking the handheld to see if a new anomaly opened so Cutter could back to his right time, but just ended up checked over and over if the anomaly in the Forest of Dean was still open and it was. He tried to push it away as he got dressed in something a little nicer that what he had on, but it didn't work.

He started to wonder why they didn't find it, but it was not hard to know why they didn't, from what Hatter and Alice told him of where it was, they would never have gone up there a second time. 'If only we knew…' he was still cursing himself even so. It would have been just too dangerous to look, and evidently was. He couldn't help but feel a little down for not finding it, he tried his best to be the man and take care of Abby and every time something happened he was never there for her, he was always just stumbling upon her. Like in the Cretaceous, he was so lucky to find her that day. He had only just seen her as she was covered up like a dog bone.

He often wondered how he even found her, he had looked all day and most of the night, he had almost given up, numb with grief, feeling he had truly lost her. Then he had heard her call out his name and went running like a bullet to the sound of her strong voice that was just over a hill. He had just found her covered up in boughs but lite up by the setting moon completely lifeless. It seemed like she had been like this for hours, there was no way he could have heard her call out for him. He had never told her about this, she might of thought he was going mad, he felt a little mad at the time.

Abby and Cutter came back in little less that an hour not leaving to much time.

"Abby, we only have about a half hour now. You better get dressed. I said we would meet them around six." Connor said going up to her as they came in.

"Connor calm down. What's the rush?" asked Cutter "its funny you were one that was always late. I guess even you can change" Cutter smiled taking his new bag of cloths and going to the bathroom to change. Connor was a little thrown by his chipper-ness and had no response to him.

They all left with little time to spar, Connor had gotten a little worried that they would miss the reservation, he was late once with a date many years ago and had a rather embarrassing out come that ended at a takeaway. This place not nearly as snobby but he still didn't want to take the risk, so he dropped Abby and Cutter off at the restaurant and went to get Hatter and Alice who were a few miles away.

Connor was surprised at how much nicer this hotel was compared to the one they were at earlier as he walked in, he looked around as he went to the desk and waited behind the man in front of him to ask what room they were in.

"Ya that's good and some Asiatic Lilies" the man said.

"Wow you seem to know what you're talking about." The desk man said.

"Well only because there's a flower stand out side my girlfriends mums."

Then Connor noticed it was Hatter.

"Oi, mate." He said patting Hatter on the back smiling, making Hatter turn and giving him an uncertain look.

"Oh yeah, could you go and get Alice?"

"Uh sure." Connor points at the lift, and Hatter nods.

"Its room 312." Hatter says as Connor and goes to the lift and waits for it, he looks back and sees Hatter talking to the desk man again and could not help but hear as he waited.

"So is that your brother?" the desk man asked.

"What? Oh no, no, no."

"Really? You look like twins." Connor was getting a little uncomfortable at hearing this and thanked the heavens when the lift doors opened. He rushed in, but heard.

"Back to the flowers, ya." Hatter said annoyed, before the doors closed leaving Connor in the drowning silence of the lift.

**Tell me what you think!**

**Please review.**

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